COLLEGE 
TEACHING 

KLAPPER 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


UNiVER..TYof^  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  AMGELES 
UBRARY 


\  ' 
iy 


4< 


COLLEGE  TEACH  ING^H^-^^c) 


STUDIES  IN 

METHODS  OF  TEACHING  IN 

THE  COLLEGE 

Edited  by 
PAUL  KLAPPER,  Ph.D. 

Associate  Professor  of  EUiucation 
The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York 

with  an 

Introduction  by 

NICHOLAS  MURRAY  BUTLER,  LL.D. 

President  of  Columbia  University 


Yonkei*s-on-Hudson,  New  York 
WORLD   BOOK   COMPANY 


1  920 

123776 


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THE    HOUSE    OF   APPLIED    KNOWLEDGE 
Established,  1905,  by  Caspar  W.  Hodgson 

YONKERS-ON-HUDSON,   NeW    YoRK. 

2126.  Prairie   Avenue,   Chicago 

A  treasure  of  wisdom  is  stored  in  the  col- 
leges of  the  land.  The  teachers  are  the 
custodians  of  knowledge  that  makes  life 
free  and  progressive.  This  book  aims  to 
make  the  college  teacher  effective  in  hand- 
ing down  this  heritage  of  knowledge,  rich 
and  vital,  that  will  develop  in  youth  the 
power  of  right  thinking  and  the  courage 
of  right  living.  Thus  College  Teaching 
carries  out  the  ideal  of  service  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  motto  of  the  World  Book 
Company,  "  Books  that  Apply  the  World's 
Knowledge  to  the  World's  Needs" 


Copyright,  1920,  by  World  Book  Company 

Copyright  in  Great  Britain 

All  rights  reserved 


l_,  ^Educatioo 

K  ^  ^  c 

PREFACE 

THE  student  of  general   problems  of  education  or  of 
elementary  education  finds  an  extensive  literature  of 
varying  worth.     In  the  last  decade  our  secondary  schools 
have  undergone  radical  reorganization  and  have  assumed 
new  functions.     A   rich   literature  on  every   phase  of  the 
'  V     high  school  is  rapidly  developing  to  keep  pace  with  the 
\    needs  and  the  progress  of  secondary  education.     The  litera- 
^     ture  on  college  education  in  general  and  college  pedagogy 
in  particular  is  surprisingly  undeveloped.     This  dearth  is 
not  caused  by  the  absence  of  problem,  for  indeed  there  is 
room  for  much  improvement  in  the  organization,  the  ad- 
ministration, and  the  pedagogy  of  the  college.     Investiga- 
tors of  these  problems  have  been  considerably  discouraged 
by  the  facts  they  have  gathered.     This  volume  is  conceived 
in  the  hope  of  stimulating  an   interest  in  the  quality  of 
*>^     college  teaching  and  initiating  a  scientific  study  of  college 
^     pedagogy.     The   field  is  almost  virgin,  and  the  need  for 
v;^  constructive  programs  is  acute.     We  therefore  ask  for  our 
effort  the  indulgence  that  is  usually  accorded  a  pioneer. 

In  this  age  of  specialization  of  study  it  is  evident  that 
no  college  teacher,  however  wide  his  experience  and  ex- 
tensive  his   education,    can   speak   with   authority   on   the 
^1    teaching  of  all  the  subjects  in  the  college  curriculum,  or 
"^   even  of  all  the  major  ones.     For  this  reason  this  volume  is 
the  product  of  a  cooperating  authorship.    The  editor  devotes 
himself  to  the  study  of  general  methods  of  teaching  that 
apply  to  almost  all   subjects  and  to  most  teaching  situa- 
."  tions.     In  addition,  he  coordinates  the  work  of  the  other 
^  contributors.     He  realizes  that  there  exists  among  college 
V  professors  an   active  hostility   to   the  study   of  pedagogy. 
The  professors   feel   that  one  who  knows  his  subject  can 
teach   it.     The  contributors  have  been   purposely  selected 
in  order  to  dispel  this  hostility.     They  are,  one  and  all, 
men  of  undisputed  scholarship  who  have  realized  the  need 
of  a  mode  of  presentation  that  will  make  their  knowledge 
alive. 

iii 


iv  Preface 

Books  of  multiple  authorship  often  possess  too  wide  a 
diversity  of  viewpoints.  The  reader  comes  away  with  no 
underlying  thought  and  no  controlling  principles.  To 
overcome  this  defect,  so  common  in  books  of  this  type,  a 
tentative  outline  was  formulated,  setting  forth  a  desirable 
mode  of  treating,  in  the  confines  of  one  chapter,  the  teach- 
ing of  any  subject  in  the  college  curriculum.  This  outline 
was  submitted  to  all  contributors  for  critical  analysis  and 
constructive  criticism.  The  original  plan  was  later  modi- 
fied in  accordance  with  the  suggestions  of  the  contributors. 
This  final  outline,  which  follows,  was  then  sent  to  the  con- 
tributors with  the  full  understanding  that  each  writer  was 
free  to  make  such  modifications  as  his  specialty  demanded 
and  his  judgment  dictated.  This  outline  is  followed  in 
most  of  the  chapters  and  gives  the  book  that  unifying  ele- 
ment necessary  in  any  book  and  vital  in  a  work  of  so  large 
a  cooperating  authorship. 

The  editor  begs  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to  the 
many  contributors  who  have  given  generously  of  their  time 
and  their  labor  with  no  hope  of  compensation  beyond  the 
ultimate  appreciation  of  those  college  teachers  who  are 
eager  to  learn  from  the  experience  of  others  so  that  they 
may  the  better  serve  their  students. 

TENTATIVE    OUTLINE    FOR    THE    TEACHING 
OF    IN    THE    COLLEGE 

I.    Aim  of  Subject  X  in  the  College  Curriculum: 

Is  it  taught  for  disciplinary  values?     What  are  they? 

Is  it  taught  for  cultural  reasons? 

Is  it  taught  to  give  necessary  information? 

Is  it  taught  to  prepare  for  professional  studies? 

Is  the  aim  single  or  eclectic?     Do  the  aims  vary  for  different 
groups  of  students?     Does  this  apply  to  all  the  courses  in 
your  specialty?     How  does  the  aim  govern  the  methods  of 
teaching? 
II.     Place  of  the  Subject  in  the  College  Curriculum: 

In  what  year  or  years  should  it  be  taught? 

What  part  of  the  college  course  —  in  terms  of  time  or  cred- 
its—  should  be  allotted  to  it? 


Preface  v 

What  is  the  practice  in  other  colleges? 

What  course  or  courses  in  this  subject  should  be  part  of  the 
general  curriculum  or  be  prescribed  for  students  in  art, 
in  science,  in  modern  languages,  or  in  the  preprofessional 
or  professional  groups? 

III.  Organization  of  the  Subject  in  the  G)Ilege  Course: 

Desired  sequence  of  courses  in  this  subject. 

What  is  the  basis  of  this  sequence?  Gradation  of  successive 
difficulties  or  logical  sequence  of  facts? 

Should  these  courses  be  elective  or  prescribed?  All  pre- 
scribed?    For  all  groups  of  students? 

In  what  years  should  the  elective  work  be  offered? 

IV.  Discussion  of  Methods  of  Teaching  this  Subject: 

Place  and  relative  worth  of  lecture  method,  laboratory  work, 
recitations,  research,  case  method,  field  work,  assignment 
from  a  single  text  or  reference  reading,  etc. 
Discussion  of  such  problems  as  the  following: 
Shall  the  first  course  in  chemistry  be  a  general  and  extensive 
course  summing  up  the  scope  of  chemistry,  its  function  in 
organic    and    inorganic    nature,   with    no    laboratory   work 
other  than  the  experimentation  by  the  instructor? 
Should  students  in  the  social  sciences  study  the  subject  de- 
ductively from  a  book  or  should  the  book  be  postponed  and 
the  instructor  present  a  series  of  problems  from  the  social 
life  of  the  student  so  that  the  analysis  of  these  may  lead 
the  student  to  formulate  many  of  the.  generalizations  that 
are  given  early  in  a  textbook  course? 
Should  college  mathematics  be  presented  as  a  series  of  sub- 
jects, e.g.,  algebra    (advanced),  solid  geometry,  trigonom- 
etry,   analytical    geometry,    calculus,    etc.?     Would    it    be 
better  to  present  the  subject  as  a  single  and  unified  whole 
in  two  or  three  semesters? 
Should  a   student  study  his  mathematics  as  it  is  developed 
in  his  book, —  viz.,  as  an  intellectual  product  of  a  matured 
mind    familiar   with   the   subject, —  or  should   the   subject 
grow  gradually  in  a  more  or  less  unorganized  form  from 
a  series  of  mechanical,  engineering,  building,  nautical,  sur- 
veying, and  structural  problems  that  can  be  found  in  the 
life  and  environment  of  the  student? 
V.     Moot  Questions  in  the  Teaching  of  this  Subject. 
VI.     How  judge  whether  the  subject  has  been  of  worth  to  the  stu- 
dent? 
How  test  whether  the  aims  of  this  subject  have  been  realized? 
How  test  how    much    the    student    has    carried    away?     What 
means,  methods,  and  indices  exist  aside  from  the  traditional 
examination? 


vi  Preface 

VII.  Bibliography  on  the  Pedagogy  of  this  Subject  as  Far  as  It  Ap- 
plies to  College  Teaching.  The  aim  of  the  bibliography 
should  be  to  give  worth-while  contributions  that  present 
elaborations  of  what  is  here  presented  or  points  of  view  and 
modes  of  procedure  that  differ  from  those  here  set  forth. 

Paul  Klapper 

The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York 


CONTENTS 

PAOB 

Introduction xiii 

By  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 
President  of  Columbia  University.  Author  of  The 
Meaning  of  Education,  True  and  False  Democracy, 
etc.     Editor  of  Educational  Review 

PART  ONE  — THE  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES 

CHAPTER 

I    History  and  Present  Tendencies  of  the 

American  College 3 

By  Stephen  Pierce  Duccan,  Ph.D.  Professor  of 
Education,  The  G)llege  of  the  City  of  New  York- 
Author  of  A  Student's  History  of  Education 

II    Professional      Training      for      College 

Teaching .     31 

By  Sidney  E.  Mezes,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  President  of 
The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York.  Formerly 
President  of  University  of  Texas.  Author  of 
Ethics,  Descriptive  and  Explanatory 

III  General  Principles  of  College  Teaching    43 

By   Paul  Klapper,   Ph.D.     Associate   Professor  of 
•  Education,  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
Author  of  Principles  of  Educational  Practice,  The 
Teaching  of  English,  etc. 

PART  TWO  — THE  SCIENCES 

IV  The  Teaching  of  Biology 85 

By  T.  W.  Galloway,  Ph.D.,  Litt.D.  Professor 
of  Zoology,  Beloit  College.  Author  of  Textbook 
of  Zoology,  Biology  of  Sex  for  Parents  and  Teach' 
ers.  Use  of  Motives  in  Moral  Education,  etc. 

V    The  Teaching  of  Chemistry     ....  110 

By  Louis  Kahlenberc,  Ph.D.  Director  of  the 
Course  in  Chemistry  and  Professor  of  Chemistry, 
University  of  Wisconsin.  Author  of  Outlines  of 
Chemistry,  Laboratory  Exercises  in  Chemistry, 
Chemistry  Analysis,  Chemistry  and  Its  Relation  to 
Daily  Life,  etc. 

VI    The  Teaching  of  Physics 126 

By  Harvey   B.  Lemon,  Ph.D.     Assistant  Professor 
of  Physics,  University  of  Chicago 
vii 


viii  Contents 


VII    The  Teaching  of  Geology  .....  142 

By  T.  C.  Chamberlin,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Sc.D.  Pro- 
fessor and  Head  of  Department  of  Geology  and 
Director  of  Walker  Museum,  University  of  Chicago. 
Author  of  Geology  of  Wisconsin,  The  Origin  of  the 
Earth.    Editor  of  The  Journal  of  Geology 

VIII    The  Teaching  of  Mathematics      .     .     .  161 

By  G.  A.  Miller,  Ph.D.  Professor  of  Mathematics, 
University  of  Illinois.  Author  of  Determinants, 
Mathematical  Monographs  (co-author).  Theory  and 
Applications  of  Groups  of  Finite  Order  (co-author). 
Historical  Introduction  to  the  Mathematical  Lit- 
erature, etc.  Co-editor  of  American  Year  Book 
and  Encyclopedie  des  Sciences  Mathematiques 

IX    Physical  Education  in  the  College  .     .  183 

By  Thomas  A.  Storey,  M.D.,  Ph.D.  Professor  of 
Hygiene,  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
State  Inspector  of  Physical  Training,  New  York. 
Secretary-General,  Fourth  International  Congress  of 
School  Hygiene,  Buffalo,  1913.  Executive-Secre- 
tary, United  States  Interdepartmental  Social  Hygiene 
Board.  Author  of  various  contributions  to  standard 
works  on  physiology,  hygiene,  and  physical  training 

PART  THREE  — THE  SOCIAL  SCIENCES 

X    The  Teaching  of  Economics     ....  217 
By  Frank  A.  Fetter,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.    Professor  of 
Political    Economy,    Princeton    University.    Author 
of    Economic    Principles    and    Modern    Economic 
Problems 

XI    The  Teaching  of  Sociology     ....  241 

Arthur  J.  Todd,  Ph.D.  Professor  of  Sociology 
and  Director  of  the  Training  Course  for  Social  and 
Civic  Work,  University  of  Minnesota.  Author  of 
The  Primitive  Family  as  an  Educational  Factor, 
Theories  of  Social  Progress 

XII    The  Teaching  of  History 

A.  American  History 256 

By  Henry  W.  Elson,  A.M.,  Litt.D.  President  of 
Thiel  College.  Formerly  Professor  of  History.  Ohio 
University.  Author  of  History  of  the  United  States, 
The  Story  of  the  Old  World  (with  Cornelia  EL 
MacMullan),  etc. 


Contents  ix 

CHAPTER  '  PAOB 

B.  Modem  European  History  ....   263 

By  Edward  Krehbiel,  Ph.D.  Professor  of  Modern 
European  History,  Leland  Stanford  University. 
Author  of  The  Interdict,  Nationalism,  War  and 
Society 

XIII  The  Teaching  of  Political  Science  .  .  279 
By  Charles  Grove  Haines,  Ph.D.  Professor  of 
Government,  University  of  Texas.  Author  of  Con- 
flict over  Judicial  Powers  in  the  United  States 
prior  to  1870,  The  American  Doctrine  of  Judicial 
Supremacy,   The   Teaching  of  Government    (Report 

of  Committee  on  Instruction,  Political  Science  Asso- 
ciation) 

XIV  The  Teaching  of  Philosophy  ....  302 

By  Frank  Thilly,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  Professor  of  Phi- 
losophy, Dean  of  the  College  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
Cornell  University.  Author  of  Introduction  to 
Ethics,  History  of  Philosophy 

XV    The  Teaching  of  Ethics 320 

By  Henry  Neumann,  Ph.D.  Leader  of  the  Brook- 
lyn Society  for  Ethical  Culture.  Formerly  of  the 
Department  of  Education,  The  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York.  Author  of  Moral  Values  in  Sec- 
ondary Education 

XVI    The  Teaching  of  Psychology  ....  334 

By  Robert  S.  Woodworth,  Ph.D.  Professor  of 
Psychology,  Columbia  University.  Author  of  Dyna- 
mic Psychology,  Le  Mouvement,  Care  of  the  Body, 
Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology  (with  George 
Trumbull  Ladd) 

XVII    The  Teaching  of  Education 

A.  Teaching  the  History  of  Education   .  347 

By  Herman  H.  Horne,  Ph.D.  (Harvard).  Pro- 
fessor of  the  History  of  Education  and  the  History 
of  Philosophy.  New  York  University.  Author  of 
The  'Philosophy  of  Education,  The  Psychological 
Principles  of  Education,  Free  Will  and  Human 
Responsibility,  etc. 

B.  Teaching  Educational  Theory  .      .      .  359 

By  Frederick  E.  Bolton,  Ph.D.  Dean  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Education,  University  of  Washington.  Au- 
thor of  Principles  of  Education,  The  Secondary 
School  System  of  Germany 


Contents 


PART  FOUR  —  THE  LANGUAGES  AND  LITERATURES 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

"^        XVIII    The  Teaching  of  Engush  Literature      .  379 

By  Caleb  T.  Winchester,  L.H.D.  Professor  of 
English  Literature,  Wesleyan  University,  Author 
of  Some  Principles  of  Literary  Criticism,  A  Group 
of  English  Essayists,  William  Wordsworth:  How 
to  Know  Him,  etc. 

XIX    The  Teaching  of  Engush  Composition  .  389 

By  Henry  Seidel  Canby,  Ph.D.  Adviser  in  Liter- 
ary Composition,  Yale  University.  Author  of  The 
Short  Story  in  English,  College  Sons  and  College 
Fathers,  etc. 

XX    The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  ....  404 

By  William  K.  Prentice,  Ph.D.  Professor  of 
Greek,  Princeton  University.  Author  of  Greek  and 
Latin  Inscriptions  in  Syria 

XXI    The    Teaching    of    the    Romance    Lan- 
guages      424 

By  William  A.  Nitze,  Ph.D.  Professor  and  Head 
of  Department  of  Romance  Languages,  University 
of  Chicago.  Author  of  The  Grail  Romance,  Glas- 
tonbury and  the  Holy  Grail,  Handbook  of  French 
Phonetics,  etc.  Contributor  to  New  International 
Encyclopedia 


XXII    The  Teaching  of  German 


440 


By  E.  Prokosch,  Ph.D.  Late  Professor  of  Ger- 
manic Languages,  University  of  Texas.  Author  of 
Teaching  of  German  in  Secondary  Schools,  Phonetic 
Lessons  in  German,  Sounds  and  History  of  the 
German  Language,  etc. 

PART  FIVE  —  THE  ARTS 
XXIII    The  Teaching  of  Music 457 

By  Edward  Dickinson,  Litt.D.  Professor  of  His- 
tory and  Criticism  of  Music,  Oberlin  College.  Au- 
thor of  Music  in  the  History  of  the  Western 
Church,  The  Study  of  the  History  of  Music,  The 
Education  of  a  Music  Lover,  Music  and  the  Higher 
Education 


Contents 


XI 


CHAPTER 

XXIV 


The  Teaching  of  Art 475 

By  Holmes  Smith,  A.M.  Professor  of  Drawing 
and  the  History  of  Art,  Washington  University. 
Author  of  various  articles  in  magazines  on  art 
topics 


PART  SIX  — VOCATIONAL  SUBJECTS 
XXV    The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects  .  501 

By  Ira  O.  Baker,  C.E.,  D.  Enc'g.  Professor  of 
Civil  Engineering,  University  of  Illinois.  Author 
of  Treatise  on  Masonry  Construction,  Treatise  on 
Roads  and  Pavements 

XXVI    The  Teaching  of  Mechanical  Drawing  .  525 

By  James  D.  Phillips,  B.S.  Asisstant  Dean  and 
Professor  of  Drawing,  College  of  Engineering,  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin.  Author  of  Elements  of  De- 
scriptive Geometry  (with  A.  V.  Millar),  Mechanical 
Drawing  for  Secondary  Schools  (with  F.  O.  Craw- 
shaw),  Mechanical  Drawing  for  Colleges  and  Uni- 
versities (with  H.  D.  Orth) 

and  Herbert  D.  Orth,  B.S.  Assistant  Professor  of 
Mechanical  Drawing  and  Descriptive  Geometry, 
University  of  Wisconsin.  Author  of  Mechanical 
Drawing  for  Colleges  and  Universities  (with  J.  D. 
Phillips) 


XXVII    The  Teaching  of  Journalism  .... 

By  Talcott  Williams,  A.M.,  LL.D.,  Lirr.D.    Di- 
rector, School  of  Journalism,  Columbia  University 


533 


XXVIII    Business  Education 555 

By  Frederick  B.  Robinson,  Ph.D.  Professor  of 
Economics  and  Dean  of  the  School  of  Business  and 
Civic  Administration,  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York 

Index 577 


INTRODUCTION 

IT  is  characteristic  of  the  American  people  to  have  pro- 
found faith  in  the  power  of  education.  Since  Colonial 
days  the  American  college  has  played  a  large  part  in 
American  life  and  has  trained  an  overwhelming  propor- 
tion of  the  leaders  of  American  opinion.  There  was  a  time 
when  the  American  college  was  a  relatively  simple  institu- 
tion of  a  uniform  type,  but  that  time  has  passed.  The 
term  "  college  "  is  now  used  in  a  variety  of  significations, 
a  number  of  which  are  very  new  and  very  modern  indeed. 
Some  of  these  uses  of  the  term  are  quite  indefensible,  as 
when  one  speaks  of  a  college  of  engineering,  or  of  law, 
or  of  medicine,  or  of  journalism,  or  of  architecture.  Such 
use  of  the  word  merely  confuses  and  makes  impossible 
clear  thinking  as  to  educational  institutions  and  educational 
aims. 

The  term  "  college  "  can  be  properly  used  only  of  an 
institution  which  offers  training  in  the  liberal  arts  and 
sciences  to  youth  who  have  completed  a  standard  secondary 
school  course  of  study.  The  purpose  of  college  teaching 
is  to  lay  the  foundation  for  intelligent  and  effective  special- 
ization later  on,  to  open  the  mind  to  new  interpretations 
and  new  understandings  both  of  man  and  of  nature,  and  to 
give  instruction  in  those  standards  of  judgment  and  ap- 
preciation, the  possession  and  application  of  which  are  the 
marks  of  the  truly  educated  and  cultivated  man.  The  size 
of  a  college  is  a  matter  of  small  importance,  except  that 
under  modem  conditions  a  large  college  and  one  in  im- 
mediate contact  with  the  life  of  a  imiversity  is  almost  cer- 
tain to  command  larger  intellectual  resources  than  is  an 
institution  of  a  different  type.  The  important  thing  about 
a  college  is  its  spirit,  its  clearness  of  aim,  its  steadiness  of 
purpose,  and  the  opportunity  which  it  affords  for  direct 
personal  contact  between  teacher  and  student.  Given  these, 
the  question  of  size  is  unimportant. 

There  was  a  time  when  it  was  felt,  probably  correctly, 
that  a  satisfactory  college  training  could  be  had  by  requir- 

xiii 


xiv  Introduction 


ing  all  students  to  follow  a  single  prescribed  course  of 
study.  At  that  time,  college  students  were  drawn  almost 
exclusively  from  families  and  homes  of  a  single  type  or 
kind.  Their  purposes  in  after-life  were  similar,  and  their 
range  of  intellectual  sympathy,  while  intense,  was  rather 
narrow.  The  last  fifty  years  have  changed  all  this.  Col- 
lege students  are  now  drawn  from  families  and  homes  of 
every  conceivable  type  and  kind.  Their  purposes  in  after- 
life are  very  different,  while  new  subjects  of  study  have 
been  multiplied  many  fold.  The  old  and  useful  tradition 
of  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics,  together  with  a  little 
history  and  literature,  as  the  chief  elements  in  a  college 
course  of  study,  had  to  give  way  when  first  the  natural 
sciences,  and  then  the  social  sciences,  claimed  attention 
and  when  even  these  older  subjects  of  study  were  them- 
selves subdivided  into  many  parts. 

These  changes  forced  a  change  in  the  old-fashioned  pro- 
gram of  college  study,  and  led  to  the  various  substitutes 
for  it  that  now  exist.  Whether  a  college  prefers  the  elective 
system  of  study,  or  the  group  system,  or  some  other  method 
of  combining  instruction  that  is  regarded  as  fundamental 
with  other  instruction  that  is  regarded  as  less  so,  the  fact 
is  that  all  these  are  simply  different  kinds  of  attempt  to 
meet  a  new  condition  which  is  the  natural  result  of  intel- 
lectual and  economic  changes.  Just  now  the  college  is  in  a 
state  of  transition.  It  is  not  at  all  clear  precisely  what  its 
status  will  be  a  generation  hence,  or  how  far  present 
tendencies  may  continue  to  increase,  or  how  far  they  may 
be  counteracted  bv  a  swing  of  the  pendulum  in  the  op- 
posite direction.  Therefore  this  is  a  time  to  describe  rather 
than  to  dogmatize,  and  it  is  description  which  is  the  char- 
acteristic mark  of  the  important  series  of  papers  which 
constitute  the  several  chapters  in  the  present  volume. 

A  careful  reading  of  these  papers  is  commended  not  only 
to  the  great  army  of  college  teachers  and  college  students, 
but  to  that  still  greater  army  of  those  who,  whether  as 
alumni  or  as  parents  or  as  citizens,  are  deeply  concerned 
with  the  preservation  of  the  influence  and  character  of  the 


Introduction  xv 


American  college  for  its  effect  upon  our  national  standards 
of  thought  and  action. 

American  colleges  are  of  two  distinct  types,  and  it  may 
be  that  the  future  has  in  store  a  different  position  for  each 
type.  The  true  distinction  between  colleges  is  according  as 
they  are  separate  or  are  incorporated  in  a  university  system, 
and  not  at  all  as  to  whether  they  are  large  or  small.  A 
separate  college,  such  as  Amherst  or  Beloit  or  Grinnell  or 
Pomona,  has  its  own  peculiar  problems  of  support  and 
administration.  The  university  college,  on  the  other  hand, 
such  as  Columbia  or  Harvard  or  Chicago  or  the  college  of 
any  state  university,  has  quite  different  problems  of  sup- 
port and  of  administration.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  dis- 
tinction between  these  two  types  of  college  will  become 
more  sharply  marked  as  years  go  by,  and  that  eventually 
they  will  appear  to  be  two  distinct  institutions  rather  than 
two  types  of  one  and  the  same  institution. 

Meanwhile,  we  have  to  deal  with  the  college  as  it  is, 
in  all  its  varied  forms,  but  characteristically  American 
whatever  its  form.  The  American  college  has  little  or  no 
resemblance  to  the  English  Public  School  or  to  the  French 
Lycee  or  to  the  German  Gymnasium.  It  is  something  more 
than  any  one  of  these,  and  at  the  same  time  something  less. 
It  differs  from  them  all  very  much  as  the  conditions  of 
American  life  differ  from  those  of  English  or  of  French 
or  of  German  life.  The  college  may  or  may  not  involve 
residence,  but  when  it  does  involve  residence,  it  is  at  its 
best.  It  is  then  that  the  largest  amount  of  carefully  ordered 
and  stimulating  influence  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
daily  life  of  growing  and  expanding  youth,  and  it  is  then 
and  only  then,  that  youth  can  get  the  inestimable  benefits 
which  follow  from  daily  and  hourly  contact  with  others  of 
like  age,  like  tastes,  like  habits,  and  like  purposes.  Indeed, 
it  has  often  been  said  that  the  college  gives  more  through 
its  opportunities  which  attach  to  residence,  than  through 
its  opportunities  which  attach  to  instruction. 

Almost  every  conceivable  problem  that  can  arise  in  col- 
lie life  and  college  work,  is  discussed  in  the  following 


xvi  Introduction 


pages.  It  is  now  coming  to  be  understood  that  the  health 
of  the  college  student  is  as  much  a  matter  of  concern  as  his 
instruction,  and  that  a  college  is  not  doing  its  full  duty  by 
those  who  seek  its  doors,  when  it  merely  provides  libraries, 
laboratories,  and  skillful  teachers.  It  must  also  provide 
for  such  conditions  of  residence,  of  food,  of  exercise,  and 
of  frequent  medical  examination  and  inspection,  as  shall 
protect  and  preserve  the  health  of  those  who  come  to  take 
advantage  of  its  instruction. 

There  is  one  other  point  which  should  not  be  overlooked, 
and  that  is  the  literally  immense  influence  exerted  in 
America  by  that  solidarity  of  college  sentiment  and  college 
opinion  which  is  kept  alive  by  organizations  of  former  col- 
lege students  scattered  throughout  the  land.  This,  again, 
is  a  peculiarly  American  development,  and  it  serves  to  unite 
the  college  and  public  sentiment  much  more  closely  than 
any  formal  tie  could  possibly  do.  Indeed,  it  illustrates 
how  completely  the  American  people  claim  the  college  as 
their  own.  The  man  or  woman  who  has  once  been  a  col- 
lege student  never  ceases  to  be  a  member  of  that  particular 
college  or  to  labor  to  extend  its  influence  and  to  increase 
its  usefulness. 

Every  reader  of  this  volume  should  approach  it  in  a 
spirit  of  sympathetic  understanding  of  American  higher 
education,  and  of  the  college  as  the  oldest  instrument  of 
that  higher  education  and  still  one  of  the  chief  elements 
in  it. 

Nicholas  Murray  Butler 

Columbia  University 


PART  ONE 
The  Introductory  Studies 

CMAPTEB 

I    History    and    Present    Tendencies    of    the 

American  College  Stephen  P.  Duggan 

II    Professional  Training  for  College  Teaching 

Sidney  E.  Mezes 

III    General  Principles  of  College  Teaching 

Paul  Klapper 


I 

HISTORY  AND  PRESENT  TENDENCIES  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  COLLEGE 

1.    THE    COLONIAL    PERIOD 

THE  American  colonies  were  founded  chiefly  by  Ensrlish-   ^hepre- 
.  .  dominance 

men  who  came  to  America  for  a  variety  of  reasons,    of  the 

Some  of  these  were  economic  and  political,  but  the  most  ^^^°°* 
important  of  their  reasons  was  the  desire  to  practice  their 
religious  convictions  with  greater  freedom  than  was  per- 
mitted at  home.  Apart  from  the  state  religion,  however,  all 
the  colonists  were  animated  by  a  love  for  English  institu- 
tions which  they  transplanted  to  the  New  World,  and  among 
these  institutions  were  the  grammar  school  and  the  college. 
Wherever  the  Reformation  had  been  chiefly  a  religious 
rather  than  a  political  and  ecclesiastical  movement,  the  in- 
terest in  education  and  the  efi"ect  upon  it  were  direct  and 
immediate.  •  This  was  true  where  Calvinism  prevailed,  as  in 
the  Netherlands,  Scotland,  and  among  the  Puritans  in  Eng- 
land. Hence  it  is  natural  to  find  that  the  first  eff^ective 
movements  in  America  toward  the  establishment  of  educa- 
tional institutions,  both  elementary  and  higher,  should  have 
taken  place  in  New  England. 

A  large  proportion  of  university  graduates  were  included 
among  the  settlers  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  They 
were  chiefly  graduates  of  Cambridge,  which  had  always  been 
religiously  more  tolerant  than  Oxford,  and  especially  of 
Enunanuel  College,  which  was  the  stronghold  of  Puritanism 
at  Cambridge.  It  was  natural  that  these  men,  leaders  in 
the  afl'airs  of  the  colony,  should  want  to  establish  a  New 
Cambridge  University,  but  it  is  astonishing  that  they  were 
able  to  do  so  as  early  as  1636,  only  six  years  after  the 
founding  of  this  colony.  Two  years  later  the  college  was 
named  after  John  Harvard,  a  clergyman  and  a  graduate 
of  Emmanuel,  who  upon  his  death  bequeathed  half  his  estate 

3 


4  College  Teaching 

and  all  his  fine  library  of  three  hundred  volumes  to  the 
college.  The  religious  motive  predominated  in  the  found- 
ing of  Harvard,  for  though  the  colonists  longed  "  to  advance 
learning  and  perpetuate  it  to  posterity,"  they  were  actuated 
chiefly  by  dread  "to  leave  an  illiterate  ministry  to  the 
churches,  when  our  present  Ministers  shall  lie  in  the  Dust." 

Harvard  remained  the  sole  instrument  in  the  colonies 
for  that  purpose  for  more  than  half  a  century.  In  1693  the 
College  of  William  and  Mary  was  founded  in  Virginia,  with 
the  most  generous  endowment  of  any  pre-Revolutionary  col- 
lege, generous  because  of  the  help  received  from  the  mother 
country.  It  was  the  child  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  its 
president  and  its  professors  had  to  subscribe  to  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles.  Subscription  to  a  religious  creed  was  also 
demanded  of  the  president  and  tutors  of  the  third  American 
college,  founded  in  1701.  This  Collegiate  Institute,  as  it 
was  called,  moved  from  place  to  place  for  more  than  a  dec- 
ade, but  finally  it  settled  permanently  in  New  Haven  in 
1717.  It  afterward  received  the  name  of  Yale  College  in 
honor  of  Elihu  Yale,  who  had  given  it  generous  assistance. 

As  a  result  of  the  founding  of  these  three  institutions,  the 
New  England  and  the  Southern  colonies  had  their  need  for 
ministers  fairly  well  supplied,  but  this  was  not  yet  true  of 
the  Middle  colonies.  However,  the  Presbyterians  had  be- 
come particularly  strong  in  the  Middle  colonies,  and  their 
religious  zeal  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  now  Princeton  University,  in  1746. 

A  few  years  later  Benjamin  Franklin  advanced  for  the 
college  a  new  raison  d'etre.  In  1749  he  published  a  pam- 
phlet entitled  "  Proposals  Relating  to  the  Education  of 
Youth  in  Pennsylvania,"  in  which  he  advocated  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  academy  whose  purpose  was  not  the  training 
of  ministers  but  the  secular  one  of  developing  the  practical 
virtue  necessary  in  the  opening  up  of  a  new  country.  The 
Academy  was  opened  in  1751,  and  the  charter,  granted  in 
1755,  designated  the  institution  as  "  The  College,  Academy, 
and  Charitable  School  of  Philadelphia."  Though  the 
extremely  modern  organization  and  curriculum  suggested 


History  and  Present  Tendencies 


by  Franklin  were  not  realized,  the  institution,  which  was 
afterward  called  "  The  University  of  Pennsylvania,"  offered 
the  most  liberal  curriculum  of  any  college  in  the  colonies 
up  to  the  Revolution. 

The  human  motive  was  uppermost  also  in  the  establish- 
ment of  King's  College  in  1754.  The  colonial  assembly 
desired  its  establishment  to  enhance  the  welfare  and  reputa- 
tion of  the  colony,  and  the  only  connection  between  the  col- 
lege and  the  Church  of  England  lay  in  the  requirement  that 
the  president  should  be  a  communicant  of  that  church  and 
that  the  morning  and  evening  service  of  the  college  should 
be  performed  out  of  the  liturgy  of*  that  church.  But  the  re- 
ligious motive  again  comes  to  the  fore  in  the  establishment 
of  Brown  University  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  in  1764, 
primarily  to  train  ministers  for  the  Baptist  churches;  of 
Queens,  afterwards  named  Rutgers,  in  1766,  to  provide  min- 
isters for  the  Dutch  Reformed  churches;  and  of  Dartmouth, 
in  1769,  from  which  it  was  hoped  at  first  that  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  Indians  would  proceed. 

These  colonial  colleges  in  their  histories  bear  a  great  re- 
semblance to  one  another.  They  were  almost  all  born  in 
poverty  and  led  a  desperate  financial  existence  for  many 
years.  In  some  cases  survival  was  possible  only  as  the 
result  of  the  untiring  self-sacrifice  of  some  great  personality 
like  Eleazar  Wheelock,  the  first  president  of  Dartmouth; 
in  all  cases,  of  the  devotion  of  teachers  and  officers.  Their 
beginnings  were  all  small;  in  some  cases  the  president  was 
the  only  member  of  the  instructing  staff  and  taught  all  the 
subjects  of  the  curriculum.  The  students  were  few  in  num- 
ber, the  equipment  was  simple,  the  buildings  usually  con- 
sisting of  a  house  for  the  president,  in  which  he  often 
heard  recitations,  a  dormitory  for  the  students,  and  a  col- 
lege hall.  Libraries,  laboratories,  and  recreational  facili- 
ties were  usually  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  In  fact,  as 
the  curriculum  consisted  almost  exclusively  of  philosophy, 
Greek,  Latin,  rhetoric,  and  a  little  mathematics,  there  was  no 
great  need  of  much  equipment.  The  classics  were  taught  by 
the  intensive  grammatical  method;  in  philosophy  there  was 


Character 
of  the 
colonial 
college 


6  College  Teaching 

a  great  deal  of  dialectical  disputation;  rhetoric  was  studied 
as  an  aid  to  oratory;  mathematics  included  only  arithmetic 
and  geometry.  The  aim  of  instruction  was,  not  to  give  a 
wide  acquaintance  with  many  fields  of  knowledge  for  cul- 
tural and  appreciative  purposes,  but  rather  to  develop  power 
through  intensive  exercise  upon  a  restricted  curriculum. 
But  the  value  of  the  materials  utilized  to  produce  power 
which  would  function  in  oratory,  debate,  and  diplomacy  is 
splendidly  illustrated  in  the  decades  before  the  Revolution. 
The  contest  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country 
was  essentially  a  rational  contest  in  which  questions  of  con- 
stitutional law  and,  indeed,  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  civil  and  political  existence  were  debated.  Splendidly 
did  the  leaders  of  public  opinion  in  the  colonies,  almost 
every  one  of  whom  was  a  graduate  of  a  colonial  college, 
defend  the  cause  of  the  colonists  in  pamphlet  and  debate. 
And  when  debate  was  followed  by  war,  twenty-five  per  cent 
of  the  twenty-five  hundred  graduates  of  the  colonial  colleges 
were  found  in  the  military  service  of  their  country.  At  the 
close  of  the  struggle  for  independence,  it  was  again  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  men  who  had  gained  vision  and  char- 
acter in  the  colonial  colleges  that  the  burden  fell  of  organ- 
izing the  mutually  suspicious  and  antagonistic  colonies  into 
one  nation.  Space  will  not  permit  even  of  the  enumeration 
of  the  great  leaders  who  graduated  from  all  the  colonial 
colleges,  but  an  idea  of  the  service  rendered  by  those  insti- 
tutions to  the  new  nation  may  be  obtained  by  mentioning  the 
names  of  a  few  statesmen  who  received  their  instruction  in 
one  of  the  least  of  them,  William  and  Mary.  In  its  class- 
rooms were  taught  Thomas  Jefferson,  Benjamin  Harrison, 
Edmund  Randolph,  James  Monroe,  and  John  Marshall. 

2.    THE    NATIONAL    ERA 

Trench  French  influence  upon  American  political  and  intellectual 

life  had  become  quite  pronounced  as  the  result  of  the  con- 
tact between  the  leaders  of  the  two  peoples  during  and  after 
the  Revolution.     That  influence  was  reflected  in  the  colleges. 


History  and  Present  Tendencies  7 

Instruction  in  the  French  language  was  oflfered  in  several  of 
the  colleges  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
a  chair  of  French  was  established  at  Columbia  as  early  as 
1779  and  at  William  and  Mary  in  1793.  The  secularizing 
influence  of  the  French  united  also  with  the  democratizing 
influence  of  the  Revolution  in  diminishing  the  influence  of 
the  church  upon  the  colleges  and  emphasizing  the  influence 
of  the  State  and  especially  the  relations  between  college  and 
people.  Of  the  fourteen  colleges  founded  between  1776  and 
1800,  the  majority  were  established  upon  a  non-sectarian 
basis.  These  included  institutions  of  a  private  nature  like 
Washington  and  Lee,  Bowdoin,  and  Union,  as  well  as  insti- 
tutions closely  related  to  the  state  governments  like  the  Uni- 
versities of  North  Carolina  and  of  Vermont.  There  can 
hardly  be  any  doubt  that  the  French  system  of  centralized 
administration  in  civil  aff^airs  influenced  the  establishment 
of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  The  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York  is  not  a  local  institution,  but  a 
body  of  nine  regents  elected  by  the  legislature  to  control 
the  administration  of  education  throughout  the  State  of  New 
York.  Though  organized  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  it  was 
in  all  probability  much  influenced  by  John  Jay,  who  re- 
turned from  France  in  1784.  But  the  most  potent  factor  in 
the  spread  of  French  influence  in  the  early  history  of  our 
country  was  Thomas  Jeff^erson.  While  Jeff^erson  was  Amer- 
ican minister  to  France,  he  studied  the  French  system  of  edu- 
cation and  embodied  ideas  taken  from  it  in  the  organization 
of  the  University  of  Virginia.  This  occupied  much  of  his 
attention  during  the  last  two  decades  of  his  life.  The  Uni- 
versity was  to  be  entirely  non-sectarian  and  had  for  its  pur- 
pose (1)  to  form  statesmen,  legislators,  and  judges  for  the 
commonwealth;  (2)  to  expand  the  principles  and  structure 
of  government,  the  laws  which  regulate  the  intercourse  of 
states,  and  a  sound  spirit  of  legislation;  (3)  to  harmonize 
and  promote  the  interests  of  all  forms  of  industry,  chiefly 
by  well-informed  views  of  political  economy;  (4)  to  de- 
velop the  reasoning  faculties  of  youth  and  to  broaden  their 
minds  and  develop  their  character;   (5)   to  enlighten  them 


8  College  Teaching 

with  knowledge,  especially  of  the  physical  sciences  which 
will  advance  the  material  welfare  of  the  people.  These 
progressive  views  of  what  the  college  should  aim  to  do  were 
associated  with  equally  advanced  views  of  college  ad- 
ministration, such  as  the  elective  system  and  the  impor- 
tation of  professors  from  abroad.  The  remarkable  vision, 
constructive  imagination,  courage,  and  faith  of  Jefferson  in 
his  break  with  what  was  traditional  and  authoritative  in 
education  has  been  justified  by  the  fine  career  of  the  uni- 
versity which  he  founded. 
The  state  All  the  colleges  that  were  established  before  the  Revolu- 

system  tion,  and  most  of  those  between  the  Revolution  and  the  year 

1800,  had  received  direct  assistance  from  the  colonial  or 
state  government  either  in  grants  of  land,  money,  the  pro- 
ceeds of  lotteries,  or  special  taxes.  Most  of  them,  however, 
were  dependent  upon  private  foundations  and  controlled  by 
denominational  bodies.  The  secularizing  influence  from 
France,  the  growing  interest  in  civic  and  political  affairs, 
and  the  democratic  spirit  resulting  from  the  Revolution 
combined  to  develop  a  distrust  of  the  colleges  as  they  were 
organized  and  a  desire  to  bring  them  under  the  control  of 
the  state.  This  was  apparent  in  1779,  when  the  legislature 
of  Pennsylvania  withdrew  the  charter  of  the  college  of  Phil- 
adelphia and  created  a  new  corporation  to  be  known  as 
"  The  Trustees  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania"; it  was  shown  in  1787  when  Columbia  College  was 
granted  a  new  charter  by  the  state  legislature,  under  which 
the  board  of  trustees  were  all  drawn  from  the  Board  of 
Regents  of  the  State;  it  was  made  most  evident  in  1816 
when  the  legislature  of  New  Hampshire  transformed  Dart- 
mouth College  into  a  university  without  the  consent  of  the 
board  of  trustees  and  empowered  the  governor  and  council 
to  appoint  a  Board  of  Overseers.  In  the  celebrated  Dart- 
mouth College  case,  1819,  the  old  board  of  trustees,  when 
defeated  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Hampshire  in 
their  suit  for  the  recovery  of  property  which  had  been  seized, 
carried  the  case  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
and  engaged  Daniel  Webster  as  their  counsel.     The  Court 


History  and  Present  Tendencies  9 

declared  the  act  of  the  New  Hampshire  legislature  in  viola- 
tion of  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
which  reads  that  "  No  state  shall  pass  any  .  .  .  law  impair- 
ing the  obligation  of  contracts."  The  decision  drew  a  sharp 
distinction  between  public  and  private  corporations,  and  a 
necessary  inference  was  that  most  of  the  existing  institutions 
for  higher  education  were  in  the  latter  class.  The  result 
was  to  strengthen  the  rising  demand  for  publicly  controlled 
institutions.  The  Southern  and  Western  states  across  the 
Alleghanies  that  were  on  the  point  of  framing  state  consti- 
tutions made  provision  for  state  universities  under  state 
control. 

The  intention  to  provide  higher  education  freely  for  the 
people  had  already  received  its  greatest  impetus  in  an  Act 
of  Congress  passed  shortly  after  the  passage  of  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1787,  providing  for  the  organization  of  the  North- 
west Territory.  By  that  act  two  entire  townships  of  public 
land  were  reserved  to  the  states  to  be  erected  out  of  the  terri- 
tory, the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  which  were  to  be  devoted  to 
the  establishment  of  a  state  university.  These  universities 
followed  swiftly  upon  the  establishment  of  new  states,  and 
the  democratic  ideal  that  prevailed  is  shown  in  the  determi- 
nation that  the  state  university  was  to  be  the  crown  of  the 
public  educational  system  of  the  state.  This  is  well  illus- 
trated in  the  provision  of  the  constitution  of  Indiana, 
adopted  in  the  very  year  of  the  Dartmouth  College  decision, 
1819,  which  reads,  "  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General 
Assembly,  as  soon  as  circumstances  will  permit,  to  provide 
by  law  for  a  general  system  of  education,  ascending  in  reg- 
ular gradation  from  township  schools  to  a  state  university, 
wherein  tuition  shall  be  gratis  and  equally  open  to  all." 
Circumstances  did  permit  in  the  following  year,  and  the 
provisions  of  the  bill  materialized.  The  national  policy  of 
granting  public  lands  for  educational  purposes  to  new  states 
was  continued,  and  one  or  two  townships  were  devoted  in 
each  case  to  the  establishment  of  a  state  university.  Na- 
tional assistance  to  higher  education  was  given  on  an  im- 
mense scale  in  1862,  when  the  Morrill  Act  was  passed  pro- 


10  College  Teaching 

viding  for  the  grant  of  30,000  acres  of  land  for  each  repre- 
sentative and  senator,  to  be  devoted  to  the  support  in  each 
state  of  a  higher  institution  of  learning,  in  which  technical 
and  agricultural  branches  should  be  taught.  Within  twenty 
years  every  state  in  the  Union  had  taken  advantage  of  this 
splendid  endowment,  either  to  found  a  new  state  university 
which  would  comply  with  the  requirements  as  regards 
courses  of  instruction  or  to  establish  an  agricultural  college 
as  an  independent  institution,  or  in  connection  with  some 
already  existing  institution.  Not  only  do  some  of  the  finest 
state  universities  like  those  of  California,  Illinois,  and  Min- 
nesota owe  their  origins  to  the  Morrill  Act,  but  others  owe 
to  it  their  real  beginnings  as  institutions  of  collegiate  grade. 
Up  to  the  passage  of  the  Morrill  Act  a  dozen  state  universi- 
ties struggled  to  maintain  themselves  with  meager  revenues 
and  few  students.  They  were  trying  to  do  broad  aca- 
demic work,  but  by  no  means  reached  the  standards  of  the 
strong  colleges  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  country. 

The  establishment  of  state-supported  and  state-controlled 
universities  in  the  commonwealths  organized  after  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century  by  no  means  put  an  end  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  colleges  upon  religious  foundations.  De- 
nominational zeal  was  very  strong  in  the  decades  preceding 
the  Civil  War,  and  the  church  was  the  center  of  community 
life  in  the  newly  settled  regions.  The  need  to  provide  an  in- 
telligent ministry  and  also  a  higher  civilization  led  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  many  small  sectarian  colleges  in  the  new 
states.  Despite  the  fact  that  practically  all  of  them  would 
today  be  considered  only  of  secondary  grade,  they  accom- 
plished a  splendid  work  and  provided  ideals  and  standards 
of  intellectual  life  in  a  new  country  whose  population  was 
engaged  chiefly  in  supplying  the  physical  needs  of  life. 
The  response  made  in  the  Civil  War  by  the  institutions  of 
higher  education  throughout  the  United  States,  whether  pri- 
vately or  publicly  supported,  was  a  magnificent  return  for 
the  sacrifices  endured  in  their  establishment  and  mainte- 
nance. Everywhere  throughout  the  North  the  colleges  were 
depleted  of  instructors  and  students  who  had  entered  the 


History  and  Present  Tendencies         11 

ranks,  and  in  the  South  nearly  all  the  colleges  were  com- 
pelled to  close  their  doors.  Upon  the  shoulders  of  their 
graduates  fell  the  burden  of  directing  civil  and  military 
affairs  in  state  and  nation. 


3.    THE    MODERN    ERA 

Were  a  visitor  to  Harvard  or  Columbia  in  1860  to  revisit 
it  today,  the  changes  he  would  observe  would  be  startling. 
The  elective  system,  graduate  studies,  professional  and  tech- 
nical schools,  an  allied  woman's  college,  and  a  summer  ses- 
sion are  a  few  of  the  most  noticeable  activities  incorporated 
since  1860.  It  would  be  impossible  to  set  any  date  for  the 
beginning  of  this  transformation,  so  gradual  and  subtle  has 
it  been,  but  the  accession  of  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot  to  the 
presidency  of  Harvard  College  in  1869  and  the  establish- 
ment of  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  1876  are  definite  land- 
marks. 

This  chapter  is  a  history  of  the  American  college,  and 
space  will  not  permit  of  a  detailed  description  of  these  ac- 
tivities but  simply  of  a  narration  of  the  way  they  developed 
and  of  the  forces  which  brought  them  into  being. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the  curriculum  of  the   Thecnrric- 

.  .       .  .  ,      ulum  and 

average  American  college  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  the  eiec- 
century  differed  but  little  from  the  curriculum  followed  in  *i^osyst«m 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth.  The  reason  is  simple.  The 
curriculum  is  based  upon  the  biological  principle  of  adap- 
tation to  environment,  and  the  environment  of  the  average 
American  of  1800  differed  but  slightly  from  his  ancestor  of 
a  century  and  a  half  previous.  The  growth  of  the  curric- 
ulum follows,  slowly  it  is  often  true,  upon  the  growth  of 
knowledge.  The  growth  of  knowledge  during  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  was  slow  and  insignificant 
compared  to  its  marvelous  growth  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, particularly  in  the  last  half  of  it.  The  great  discov- 
eries in  science,  first  in  chemistry,  then  in  physics  and  biol- 
ogy, resulted  in  their  gradually  displacing  much  of  the 
logic  and  philosophy  which  had  maintained  the  prime  place 


12  College  Teaching 

in  the  old  curriculum.  The  interest  aroused  in  the  French 
language  and  literature  by  our  Revolution;  in  the  Spanish 
by  the  South  American  wars  of  independence;  and  in  the 
German  by  the  distinguished  scholars  who  studied  in  the 
German  universities  during  the  middle  decades  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  caused  a  demand  that  those  languages  as 
well  as  English  have  a  place  in  the  curriculum.  This  could 
be  secured  only  by  making  them  partly  alternatives  to  the 
classical  languages.  The  Industrial  Revolution,  based  as  it 
was  upon  the  application  of  science  to  industry,  not  only 
gave  an  impetus  to  the  establishment  of  technical  schools, 
but  by  revolutionizing  the  production  and  distribution  of 
wealth  pushed  into  the  curriculum  the  science  that  deals 
with  wealth,  political  economy.  The  growth  of  cities  that 
followed  in  the  wake  of  the  Industrial  Revolution,  the  con- 
flicts between  the  interests  of  classes, —  viz.,  landowners, 
capitalists,  and  laborers, —  the  rapid  decay  of  feudalism  and 
the  spread  of  political  democracy  following  the  French  Rev- 
olution, the  expansion  of  commerce  to  all  corners  of  the 
globe  and  the  resulting  development  of  colonialism,  all  these 
human  interests  gave  a  new  meaning  to  the  study  of  his- 
tory and  politics  which  caused  them  to  secure  a  place  of 
great  prominence  in  the  curriculum  during  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  as  the  time  at  the  student's 
disposal  remained  the  same,  if  he  were  to  pursue  even  a 
part  of  the  new  subject  matter  that  was  gradually  admitted 
into  the  curriculum,  the  course  of  study  could  no  longer 
remain  wholly  prescribed  and  he  would  have  to  be  granted 
some  freedom  of  choice.  The  growth  in  number  of  students 
also  produced  changes  in  administration  favorable  to  the 
introduction  of  the  elective  system.  In  the  early  history  of 
the  American  college  one  instructor  taught  a  single  class  in 
all  subjects,  and  it  was  not  until  1776  that  the  transfer 
was  made  at  Harvard  from  the  teaching  of  classes  by  one 
instructor  to  the  teaching  of  each  subject  by  one  instructor. 
With  increase  in  numbers  the  students  were  unable  to  receive 
in  each  year  instruction  by  every  member  of  the  teaching 


History  and  Present  Tendencies         13 

staff.  In  spite  of  the  quite  obvious  advantages  of  the  elec- 
tive system,  it  was  obstinately  resisted  by  the  defenders  of 
the  classics  and  also  of  orthodox  religion  and  at  first  made 
but  slow  progress.  Thomas  Jefferson  gave  it  the  first  great 
impetus  when  he  made  it  an  essential  element  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  University  of  Virginia  in  1825.  Francis 
Wayland,  president  of  Brown  University  and  one  of  the  few 
college  presidents  of  his  day  who  were  educators  in  the 
modern  sense,  made  a  splendid  exposition  and  defense  of  it 
in  1850  in  his  "  Report  to  the  Corporation  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity on  Changes  in  the  System  of  Collegiate  Education." 
But  the  elective  system  waited  upon  the  elevation  of  Charles 
W.  Eliot  to  the  presidency  of  Harvard  in  1869  for  its  general 
realization;  in  1872  the  senior  year  at  Harvard  became 
wholly  elective;  in  1879,  the  junior  year;  in  1884,  the  soph- 
omore year;  and  in  1894  the  single  absolute  requirement 
that  remained  in  the  entire  college  course  was  English  A. 
The  action  of  Harvard  was  rapidly  imitated  to  a  more  or 
less  thorough  extent  throughout  the  country. 

Probably  no  two  colleges  administer  the  elective  system 
in  the  same  way.  There  has  begn  a  considerable  reyulsion 
of  opinion  against  unrestricted  election  of  individual  sub- 
jects. In  many  colleges  the  subjects  of  the  curriculum  were 
arranged  into  groups  which  must  be  elected  in  toto.  This 
resulted  in  the  multiplication  of  bachelor's  degrees,  each  in- 
dicating the  special  course  —  arts,  science,  philosophy,  or 
literature  —  which  had  been  followed.  At  the  present  time 
the  tendency  is  to  prescribe  the  subjects  considered  essen- 
tial to  a  liberal  education  chiefly  in  the  first  two  years  and 
to  permit  election  among  groups  of  related  courses  in  the 
last  two.  This  has  maintained  the  unity  that  formerly  pre- 
vailed and  introduced  greater  breadth  into  the  curriculum. 
It  has  also  brought  the  new  bachelor's  degrees  into  disfavor, 
and  today  the  majority  of  the  best  colleges  give  only  the 
A.B.  degree  for  the  regular  academic  course.  Valuable 
modifications  in  the  elective  system  are  constantly  being 
adopted.  One  such  is  the  preceptorial  system  at  Princeton 
and  elsewhere,  under  which  the  preceptors  personally  super- 


14 


College  Teaching 


German  in- 
flnence  and 
graduate 
study 


vise  the  reading  and  study  of  a  small  group,  of  students  and 
can  therefore  advise  them  from  personal  knowledge  of  their 
capacity.  Another  is  the  system  of  honor  courses  adopted 
at  Columbia  and  elsewhere,  whereby  a  distinction  is  made 
between  mere  "  passmen  "  and  students  desirous  of  attain- 
ing high  rank  in  courses  that  are  carefully  organized  in  se- 
quence. 

The  introduction  of  new  subjects  into  the  curriculum  of 
the  college  and  the  adoption  by  it  of  the  elective  system 
owe  much  to  German  influence  upon  American  education. 
Though  this  influence  was  partly  exerted  by  the  study  of  the 
German  language  and  literature,  it  resulted  chiefly  from  the 
residence  of  American  students  at  German  universities. 
The  first  American  to  be  granted  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Philosophy  from  a  German  university  was  Edward  Everett, 
who  received  it  at  Gottingen  in  1817.  He  was  followed  by 
George  Ticknor,  George  Bancroft,  Henry  W.  Longfellow, 
John  Lothrop  Motley,  Frederick  Henry  Hedge,  William 
Dwight  Whitney,  Theodore  Dwight  Woolsey,  and  a  host  of 
scholars  who  shed  luster  upon  American  education  and 
scholarship  in  the  mid-nineteenth  century.  Most  of  these 
men  became  associated  with  American  colleges  in  some  ca- 
pacity and  had  a  profound  influence  upon  their  ideals,  or- 
ganization, and  methods  of  teaching.  They  came  back  de- 
voted advocates  of  wide  and  deep  scholarship,  of  independ- 
ent research,  and  of  the  need  of  such  scholastic  tools  as 
libraries  and  laboratories.  But  especially  did  they  give  an 
impetus  to  the  movement  in  favor  of  freedom  of  choice 
(Lernfreiheit)  in  studies.  Only  by  the  adoption  of  such  a 
principle  could  the  pronounced  tastes  or  needs  of  individual 
students  be  satisfied. 

Some  slight  effort  had  been  made  in  the  first  four  dec- 
ades of  the  nineteenth  century  by  a  few  of  the  colleges  to 
conform  to  the  desire  of  students  for  further  study  in  some 
chosen  field,  but  the  results  were  negligible.  In  1847  Yale 
estafblished  a  "  department  of  philosophy  and  the  arts  for 
scientific  and  graduate  study  leading  to  the  degree  of  bach- 
elor of  philosophy."     The  first  degree  of  doctor  of  philos- 


History  and  Present  Tendencies         15 

ophy  was  bestowed  in  1861,. but  a  distinct  graduate  school 
was  not  organized  until  1872.  Harvard  announced  in  the 
same  year  the  establishment  of  a  graduate  department  to 
which  only  holders  of  the  bachelor's  degree  would  be  ad- 
mitted and  in  which  the  degrees  of  doctor  of  philosophy  and 
doctor  of  science  would  be  conferred.  The  graduate  depart- 
ment was  not  made  a  separate  school,  however,  until  1890. 

The  greatest  impetus  to  the  establishment  of  graduate 
schools  in  the  American  universities  was  made  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  1876.  Upon  its 
foundation  the  chief  aim  was  announced  to  be  the  develop- 
ment of  instruction  in  the  methods  of  scientific  research. 
The  influence  of  this  institution  upon  the  development  of 
higher  education  in  the  United  States  has  been  incalculably 
great.  Johns  Hopkins  was  not  a  transplanted  German  uni- 
versity. The  unique  place  of  the  college  in  American  edu- 
cation was  shown  by  the  fact  that  graduate  schools  have 
followed  the  lead  of  Johns  Hopkins  in  building  upon  the 
college.  Even  Clark  University  at  Worcester,  founded  in 
1889  upon  a  purely  graduate  basis,  established  an  under- 
graduate college  in  1902. 

One  of  the  most  gratifying  features  of  higher  education 
in  the  United  States  during  the  past  quarter  century  has 
been  the  extension  of  graduate  schools  to  the  strong  state 
universities.  Research  work  in  them  usually  began  in  the 
school  of  agriculture,  where  the  intensive  study  of  the  sci- 
ences, particularly  chemistry  and  biology,  had  such  splendid 
results  in  improved  farming  and  dairying  that  legislatures 
were  gradually  persuaded  to  extend  the  support  for  research 
to  purely  liberal  studies.  With  the  growth  and  development 
of  graduate  schools  in  this  country,  the  practice  of  going  to 
Europe  for  advanced  specialized  study  has  abated  consid- 
erably. It  will  probably  so  continue  in  the  future,  partic- 
ularly with  regard  to  Germany.  On  the  other  hand,  should 
the  new  ideal  of  international  good  will  become  a  living 
reality,  education  through  a  wide  system  of  exchange  pro- 
fessors and  students  may  be  expected  to  make  its  contribu- 
tion. 


16  College  Teaching 

Technical  While  the  eraduate  school  was  built  upon  the  colleee,  the 

and  profes-  i      .      .        i        .  i         i         •  i         r  •  .1 

sional  technical  school  grew  up  by  the  side  01  it  or  upon  an  inde- 

■tudy  pendent  foundation.     The  first  technical  school  was  estab- 

lished at  Troy,  New  York,  in  1824,  and  was  called  Rens- 
selaer Polytechnic  Institute,  after  its  founder,  Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer.  For  a  score  of  years  no  other  development  of 
consequence  was  made,  but  in  1847  the  foundations  were 
made  of  what  have  since  become  the  Lawrence  Scientific 
School  at  Harvard  and  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  at 
Yale.  The  passage  of  the  Morrill  Act  in  1862  had  a  quick- 
ening effect  on  education  in  engineering  and  agriculture. 
In  the  decade  from  1860  to  1870  some  twenty-two  techni- 
cal institutions  were  founded,  most  of  them  by  the  aid  of  the 
land  grants.  The  most  important  of  them  is  the  Massachu- 
setts Institute  of  Technology,  where  instruction  was  first 
given  in  1865  and  which  has  exerted  by  far  the  greatest  influ- 
ence upon  the  development  of  scientific  and  technical  edu- 
cation. The  best  technical  schools  require  a  high  school 
diploma  for  admission  and  have  a  four-year  course  of  study, 
but  the  only  technical  school  on  a  graduate  basis  is  the 
School  of  Mines  at  Columbia  University. 

Professional  education  in  theology,  law,  and  medicine  in 
the  United  States  was  conducted  chiefly  upon  the  appren- 
ticeship system  down  into  the  nineteenth  century.  Though 
chairs  of  divinity  existed  in  the  colonial  colleges  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  systematic  preparation  for  the  minis- 
try was  not  generally  attempted  and  the  prospective  minis- 
ter usually  came  under  the  special  care  of  a  prominent 
clergyman  who  prepared  him  for  the  profession.  In  1819 
Harvard  established  a  separate  faculty  of  divinity,  and  three 
years  later  Yale  founded  a  theological  department.  Since 
then  about  fifty  colleges  and  universities  have  established 
theological  faculties  and  about  125  independent  theological 
schools  have  been  founded  as  the  result  of  denominational 
zeal.  A  majority  of  all  these  institutions  require  at  least  a 
high  school  diploma  for  admission;  half  of  them  require 
a  college  degree.  Nearly  all  offer  a  three-year  course  of 
study  and  confer  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  divinity. 


History  mid  F resent  Tendencies         17 

Previous  to  the  Civil  War  the  'great  majority  of  legal 
practitioners  obtained  their  preparation  in  a  law  office. 
Though  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  attempted  to  estab- 
lish a  law  school  in  1791,  and  Columbia  in  1797,  both  at- 
tempts were  abortive,  and  it  remained  for  Harvard  to  estab- 
lish the  first  permanent  law  school  in  1817.  Even  this  was 
but  a  feeble  affair  until  Justice  Joseph  Story  became  asso- 
ciated with  it  in  1830.  Up  to  1870  but  three  terms  of  study 
were  required  for  a  degree;  until  1877  students  were  ad- 
mitted without  examination,  and  special  students  were  ad- 
mitted without  examination  as  late  as  1893.  Since  then  the 
advance  in  standards  has  been  very  rapid,  and  in  1899  Har- 
vard placed  its  law  school  upon  a  graduate  basis.  Though 
but  few  others  have  emulated  Harvard  in  this  respect,  the 
improvement  in  legal  education  during  the  past  two  decades 
has  been  marked.  Of  the  120  law  schools  today,  the  great 
majority  are  connected  with  colleges  and  universities,  de- 
mand a  high  school  diploma  for  admission,  maintain  a 
three-year  course  of  study,  and  confer  the  degree  of  LL.B. 
Twenty-four  per  cent  of  the  twenty  thousand  students  are 
college  graduates.  In  some  of  the  best  schools  the  induc- 
tive method  of  study  —  i.e.,  the  "  case  method  " —  has  super- 
seded the  lecture,  and  in  practically  all  the  moot  court  is  a 
prominent  feature. 

Entrance  into  the  medical  profession  in  colonial  times  was 
obtained  by  apprenticeship  in  the  office  of  a  practicing  phy- 
.sician.  The  first  permanent  medical  school  was  the  medical 
college  of  Philadelphia,  which  was  established  in  1765  and 
which  became  an  integral  part  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1791.  Columbia,  Harvard,  and  Dartmouth  also 
founded  schools  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  these  were  slowly  followed  by  other  colleges  in  the  early 
decades  of  the  nineteenth  century.  During  almost  the  en- 
tire nineteenth  century  medical  education  in  the  United 
States  was  kept  on  a  low  plane  by  the  existence  of  large 
numbers  of  proprietary  medical  "  colleges  "  organized  for 
profit,  requiring  only  the  most  meager  entrance  qualifica- 
tions, giving  poor  instruction,  and  having  very  inadequate 


18 


College  Teaching 


College  eda- 
catioD  for 
women  — 
The  inde- 
pendent 
college 


equipment  in  the  way  of  laboratories  and  clinics.  In  fact, 
medical  education  did  not  obtain  a  high  standard  until  the 
establishment  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Medical  School  in  1893. 
Since  then  the  efforts  of  the  medical  schools  connected  with 
the  strong  universities  and  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  to 
raise  the  minimum  standard  of  medical  education  have  re- 
sulted in  the  elimination  of  the  weakest  medical  schools. 
The  total  number  fell  from  150  in  1900  to  100  in  1914. 
Not  all  of  these  demand  a  high  school  diploma  for  admis- 
sion, though  the  tendency  is  to  stiffen  entrance  requirements, 
but  all  have  a  four-year  course  of  study.  In  most  insti- 
tutions experience  in  laboratory,  clinic,  and  hospital  has 
superseded  the  old  lecture  system  as  the  method  of  instruc- 
tion. Closely  associated  with  the  progress  in  medicine  and 
to  a  great  extent  similar  in  history  has  been  the  progress  in 
dentistry  and  pharmacy.  There  are  now  fifty  schools  of 
dentistry,  with  nearly  9000  students,  and  seventy-two  schools 
of  pharmacy,  with  nearly  6000  students. 

One  of  the  most  gratifying  advances  in  professional  educa- 
tion has  been  that  of  the  teacher.  Practically  all  the  state 
universities  and  many  of  the  universities  and  colleges  upon 
private  foundations  have  established  either  departments  or 
schools  of  education  which  require  at  least  the  same  entrance 
qualifications  as  does  the  college  proper  and  in  many  cases 
confine  the  work  to  the  junior  and  senior  years.  Teachers 
College  of  Columbia  University  is  on  a  graduate  basis. 
Though  many  of  the  250  training  and  normal  schools 
throughout  the  country  do  not  require  a  high  school  diploma 
for  admission,  the  tendency  is  wholly  in  that  direction.  In 
no  field  of  professional  education  has  the  application  of 
scientific  principles  to  actual  practice  made  such  progress  as 
in  that  of  the  teacher. 

Few  movements  in  the  history  of  American  education  had 
more  important  results  than  the  academy  movement  which 
prevailed  during  the  period  between  the  Revolution  and  the 
Civil  War.  Possibly  the  principle  upon  which  the  new  na- 
tion was  established,  i.  e.,  the  privilege  of  every  individual 
to  make  the  most  of  himself,  influenced  the  founders  of  the 


History  and  Present  Tendencies         19 

academies  to  make  provision  for  the  education  of  girls  be- 
yond the  mere  rudiments.  Certainly  this  aspect  of  the 
movement  had  a  far-reaching  influence.  Some  of  the  ear- 
liest of  the  academies  admitted  girls  as  well  as  boys  from 
the  beginning,  and  some  soon  became  exclusively  female. 
When  it  became  evident  from  the  work  of  the  academies 
that  sex  differences  were  not  of  as  great  importance  as  had 
been  supposed,  it  was  not  a  long  step  to  higher  education. 
Some  of  the  academies  added  a  year  or  two  to  the  curric- 
ulum and  took  on  the  more  dignified  name  of  "  seminary." 
In  this  transition  period  the  influence  of  a  few  great  per- 
sonalities was  profound,  and  even  a  brief  sketch  of  the  his- 
tory of  women's  education  cannot  omit  to  mention  the  splen- 
did work  of  Emma  Willard  and  Mary  Lyon.  Mrs.  Willard 
was  an  exponent  of  the  belief  that  freedom  of  development 
for  the  individual  was  the  greatest  desideratum  for  human- 
ity. She  not  only  diff^used  this  idea  in  her  addresses  and 
writings  but  tried  to  utilize  it  in  the  establishment  in  1814 
of  the  Troy  Female  Seminary,  which  was  the  forerunner  of 
many  others  throughout  the  country.  Mary  Lyon  was  rather 
the  representative  of  the  religious  influence  in  education,  the 
embodiment  of  the  belief  that  to  do  one's  duty  is  the  great 
purpose  in  life.  In  1837  she  founded  Mount  Holyoke  Sem- 
inary, which  had  an  influence  of  inestimable  value  in  send- 
ing well-equipped  women  throughout  the  country  as  teach- 
ers. The  importance  of  this  service  was  particularly  evi- 
dent during  the  period  of  the  Civil  War. 

Although  a  number  of  excellent  institutions  for  women 
bearing  the  name  of  college  were  founded  before  the  Civil 
War,  the  first  one  of  really  highest  rank  was  Vassar  College, 
which  opened  its  doors  to  students  in  1865.  Smith  and  Wel- 
lesley  were  founded  in  1875,  and  Bryn  Mawr  in  1885. 
These  four  colleges  are  in  every  respect  the  equal  of  the 
best  colleges  for  men.  They  are  the  most  important  of  a 
dozen  independent  colleges  for  women,  almost  all  of  which 
are  situated  in  the  East.  To  establish  the  independent  col- 
lege was  the  chief  method  adopted  in  the  older  parts  of  the 
country  to  solve  the  problem  of  women's  higher  education, 


20 


College  Teaching 


The  develop- 
ment of  co- 
education 


The  af- 
filiated col- 
lege for 
women 


Oraduate 
and  pro- 
fessional 
studies  for 
women 


rather  than  to  reorganize  colleges  for  men  where  conditions 
were  already  established. 

The  independent  college  is  not  the  method  that  has  pre- 
vailed in  the  West.  When  the  inspiration  to  higher  educa- 
tion for  women  arrived  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  conditions, 
especially  lack,  of  resources,  practically  necessitated  coedu- 
cation. Oberlin,  founded  in  1834,  was  the  first  fully  co- 
educational institution  of  college  grade  in  the  world.  In 
1841  three  women  received  from  it  the  bachelor's  degree, 
the  first  to  get  it.  Oberlin's  success  had  a  pronounced  influ- 
ence on  the  state  universities,  which,  it  was  argued,  should 
be  open  and  free  to  all  citizens,  since  they  were  supported  by 
public  taxation.  Almost  all  the  state  universities  and  the 
great  majority  of  the  colleges  .and  universities  on  private 
foundations  are  today  coeducational.  The  results  predicted 
by  pessimists,  viz.,  that  the  physical  health  of  women  would 
suffer,  that  their  intellectual  capacity  would  depreciate 
scholarship,  and  that  the  interests  of  the  family  would  be 
menaced,  have  not  eventuated. 

The  spread  of  coeducation  in  the  state  universities  of  the 
West  and  the  South  and  its  presence  in  the  newer  private 
universities  like  Cornell  and  Chicago  had  an  influence  upon 
the  older  universities  of  the  East.  This  influence  has  re- 
sulted in  a  third  method  of  solving  the  problem  of  women's 
education;  viz.,  the  establishment  of  the  affiliated  college. 
Several  universities  have  established  women's  colleges, 
sometimes  under  the  same  and  sometimes  under  a  different 
board  of  trustees,  to  provide  the  collegiate  education  for 
women  which  is  given  to  men  by  the  undergraduate  depart- 
ments. Barnard  College,  affiliated  with  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, Radcliffe  College,  affiliated  with  Harvard  University, 
Woman's  College,  affiliated  with  Brown  University,  the  Col- 
lege for  Women,  affiliated  with  the  Western  Reserve  Uni- 
versity, and  the  H,  Sophie  Newcomb  Memorial  College  for 
Women,  affiliated  with  Tulane  University,  have  all  been 
founded  within  the  past  forty  years. 

All  the  universities  for  men  except  Princeton  and  Johns 
Hopkins  and  all  the  fully  coeducational  institutions  admit 


Fraternities 


llistorij  and  Present  Tendencies         21 

women  upon  the  same  terms  as  men  to  graduate  work. 
Graduate  work  is  also  undertaken  with  excellent  results  in 
some  of  the  independent  women's  colleges,  as  at  Bryn  Mawr. 
Professional  education  for  women  has  been  coeducational 
from  the  beginning,  with  the  exception  of  medicine.  The 
prejudice  against  coeducation  in  that  profession  was  so 
strong  that  five  women's  medical  schools  were  organized, 
but  they  provide  instruction  for  little  more  than  a  quarter 
of  the  women  medical  students.  The  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  women  in  professional  schools  has  not  by  any  means 
kept  pace  with  the  increase  in  the  colleges.  It  appears 
that,  with  the  exception  of  teaching,  woman  is  not  to  be  a 
very  important  factor  in  the  learned  professions  in  the  near 
future. 

Nothing  differentiates  more  clearly  the  American  college  ^^^' 
from  European  institutions  of  higher  education  than  the  ufe  — 
kind  of  non-scholastic  activities  undertaken  by  the  students. 
From  the  very  beginning  the  college  became  a  place  of  resi- 
dence as  well  as  of  study  for  students  from  a  distance,  and 
the  dormitory  was  an  essential  element  in  its  life.  With 
increase  in  numbers,  especially  after  the  Revolution,  when 
all  distinctions  of  birth  or  family  were  abolished,  students 
naturally  divided  into  groups.  The  first  fraternity.  Phi 
Beta  Kappa,  was  founded  in  1776  at  William  and  Mary, 
with  a  patriotic  and  literary  purpose,  and  membership  in 
it  has  practically  ever  since  been  confined  to  graduates  who 
have  attained  high  scholastic  standing.  When  one  speaks 
of  college  fraternities,  however,  he  does  not  refer  to  *  B  K, 
but  to  one  of  the  intercollegiate  social  organizations  which 
have  chapters  in  several  colleges  organized  somewhat  upon 
the  plan  of  a  club  and  whose  members  live  in  a  chapter 
house.  The  first  such  fraternity  was  founded  at  Yale  in 
1821,  but  it  was  limited  to  the  senior  class.  The  three  fra- 
ternities established  at  Union  in  1825-1827  form  the  founda- 
tion of  the  present  system.  The  fraternities  spread  rapidly 
and  are  today  very  numerous.  There  are  about  thirty  of  na- 
tional importance,  having  about  a  thousand  chapters  and  a 
quarter  of  a  million  members.     The  fraternity  system  is 


22 


College  Teaching 


Beligious 
life 


Physical 
•dncatlon 


bitterly  attacked  as  being  undemocratic,  expensive,  empha- 
sizing social  rather  than  scholastic  attainments,  and,  gener- 
ally speaking,  a  divisive  rather  than  a  unifying  factor  in 
college  life.  Hence  some  colleges  have  abolished  it.  Fra- 
ternities have  been  defended,  however,  as  promoting  close 
fellowship  and  even  helping  to  develop  character.  So 
strongly  are  they  entrenched,  not  only  in  undergraduate  but 
also  in  alumni  affection,  that  they  probably  form  a  perma- 
nent element  in  college  life. 

The  early  American  college  was  primarily  a  place  to 
prepare  for  the  ministry,  and  personal  piety  was  a  matter 
of  official  enforcement.  For  a  number  of  reasons  religious 
zeal  declined  in  the  eighteenth  century.  After  the  Revolu- 
tion, under  the  influence  of  the  new  political  theories  and  of 
French  skepticism  the  percentage  of  students  professing  to 
be  active  Christians  fell  very  low.  In  the  early  nineteenth 
century  the  interest  of  students  in  religion  increased,  and 
religious  organizations  in  a  number  of  colleges  were 
founded.  Practically  all  of  these  later  gave  way  to  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  which  has  now  over 
50,000  members  organized  in  almost  all  the  colleges  of  the 
country  save  the  Roman  Catholic.  The  religious  interests 
of  Roman  Catholic  students  are  in  many  colleges  served  by 
the  Newman  Clubs  and  similar  organizations,  and  of  Jewish 
students  by  the  Menorah  Society.  The  religion  of  college 
students  has  become  less  a  matter  of  form  and  speech  and 
more  a  matter  of  service  —  social  service  of  many  kinds 
at  home  and  missionary  service  abroad. 

The  educational  reformers  of  Europe  in  the  late  eight- 
eenth and  early  nineteenth  centuries  placed  great  emphasis 
upon  a  more  complete  physical  training.  This  interest  was 
felt  in  the  United  States,  and  simple  gymnastic  apparatus 
was  set  up  at  Harvard  and  Yale  in  1826.  The  movement 
spread  very  slowly,  however,  due  probably  to  ignorance  of 
its  real  physiological  import.  Since  the  Civil  War  the  de- 
velopment of  the  gymnastic  system  has  been  rapid,  and 
now  practically  every  first-class  college  has  its  gymnasium, 
attendance  upon  which  is  compulsory,  and  some  have  their 


Ilistorif  and  Present  Tendencies         23 

stadium  and  natatorium.  Of  independent  origin  but  hast- 
ened by  the  spread  of  the  gymnasium  is  the  vast  athletic  in- 
terest of  undergraduates.  Its  earliest  form,  conducted  on  a 
considerable  scale,  was  rowing.  The  first  rowing  club  was 
formed  at  Yale  in  1843,  and  the  first  intercollegiate  race  was 
rowed  on  Lake  Winnepesaukee  in  1852,  Harvard  defeating 
Yale.  Rowing  is  now  a  form  of  athletics  at  every  college 
where  facilities  permit.  The  first  baseball  nine  was  formed 
at  Princeton  in  1859,  and  the  game  spread  rapidly  to  all  the 
other  colleges.  Football  in  a  desultory  and  unorganized 
way  made  its  appearance  early  in  the  nineteenth  century. 
As  early  as  1840  an  annual  game  was  played  at  Yale  be- 
tween the  freshmen  and  the  sophomores,  but  the  establish- 
ment of  a  regular  football  association  dates  from  1872,  also 
at  Yale.  In  the  following  year  an  intercollegiate  organiza- 
tion was  formed,  and  since  then  football  has  increased  in 
popularity  at  the  colleges  to  such  an  extent  that  just  as  base- 
ball has  become  the  great  national  game,  so  has  football  be- 
come the  great  American  collegiate  game.  Track  athletics 
is  the  most  recent  form  of  athletic  sports  to  be  introduced 
into  the  college,  and  most  colleges  now  have  their  field 
days.  In  addition  to  these  four  major  forms  of  college 
sports,  tennis,  lacrosse,  basketball,  and  swimming  also  have 
a  prominent  place.  The  four  major.  sports,are  usually  un- 
der the  control  of  special  athletic  associations,  which  spend 
large  sums  of  money  and  have  a  great  influence  with  the 
students.  In  fact,  so  great  has  become  the  interest  of  col- 
lege students  in  athletics  that  much  fear  has  been  expressed 
about  its  influence  upon  scholastic  work,  and  voices  are  not 
lacking  demanding  its  curtailment.^  Military  training  is  a 
phase  of  physical  education  which,  though  it  had  earlier 
found  a  place  in  the  land-grant  institutions,  came  to  the  fore 
as  a  part  of  the  colleges'  contribution  to  winning  the  world 
war.  Students'  Army  Training  Corps  were  established  at 
many  of  the  higher  institutions  of  the  country,  and  the  aca- 
demic studies  were  made  to  correlate  with  the  military  work 
as  a  nucleus.     At  the  present  time,  however,  the  colleges  are 

1  W.  T.  Foster  in  N.  E.  A.  Reports,  1915. 


24 


College  Teaching 


student 
literary  ac- 
tivities — 
College 
journalism 


Stndent 
self-govern- 
ment 


putting  their  work  back  on  a  pre-war  basis,  and  it  seems 
most  unlikely  that  military  training  will  survive  as  a  cor- 
porate part  of  their  work. 

Journalism,  though  its  actual  performance  is  limited  to  a 
small  number  of  students,  has  had  an  honored  place  as  an 
undergraduate  activity  for  almost  a  hundred  years.  It 
served  first  as  a  means  of  developing  literary  ability  among 
the  students,  afterwards  as  a  vehicle  for  college  news,  and 
now  there  has  been  added  to  these  purposes  the  uniting  of 
alumni  and  undergraduates.  Hence  we  find  among  college 
journals  dailies,  monthlies,  and  quarterlies,  some  of  them 
humorous  and  some  with  a  serious  literary  purpose.  Jour- 
nalism is  not  the  only  method  of  expressing  undergraduate 
thought.  There  has  been  a  great  revival  of  intracollegiate 
and  of  intercollegiate  debating  in  recent  years.  Literary 
societies  for  debating  the  great  issues  preceding  the  Revolu- 
tion was  the  first  development  of  undergraduate  life,  and 
every  college  before  and  after  the  Revolution  had  strong 
societies.  As  undergraduate  interests  increased  in  number, 
and  especially  as  the  fraternity  system  began  to  spread,  de- 
bating societies  assumed  a  relatively  less  important  place, 
but  in  the  past  two  decades  great  interest  has  been  revived 
in  them.  The  glee  club,  or  choral  society,  along  with  the 
college  orchestra,  minister  to  the  specialized  interests  of 
some  students,  and  the  dramatic  association  to  those  of 
others.  One  significant  result  of  such  activities  has  been 
to  establish  a  nexus  between  the  college  and  community 
life. 

One  other  feature  of  undergraduate  life  cannot  be  over- 
looked; viz.,  student  self-government.  The  college  student 
today  is  two  or  three  years  older  than  was  his  predecessor 
of  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago.  Moreover,  with  the  great  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  students  has  come  a  parallel  in- 
crease in  complexity  of  administration  and  in  the  duties 
of  the  college  professor.  Finally,  a  sounder  psychology 
has  taught  the  wisdom  of  placing  in  the  hands  of  the  stu- 
dents the  control  of  many  activities  which  they  can  supervise 
better  than  the  faculty.     As  a  result  of  these  and  of  other 


Hist  or  If  and  Present  Tendencies         25 


influences,  in  many  colleges  today  all  extra-scholastic  activi- 
ties are  either  supervised  by  the  student  council,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  are  elected  by  the  students,  or  by  a  joint  body 
of  student  and  faculty  members.  The  effect  in  almost  every 
instance  has  been  the  diminution  of  friction  between  the  fac- 
ulty and  students  and  the  development  of  better  relations  be- 
tween them.  In  some  colleges  the  honor  system  is  found, 
under  which  even  proctoring  at  examinations  does  not  exist, 
as  all  disciplinary  matters,  including  the  decision  in  serious 
offenses  like  cheating,  rest  with  the  student  council.  Stu- 
dent self-government  is  only  one  evidence  of  the  democra- 
tization that  has  taken  place  in  the  administration  of  the  col- 
lege during  the  past  two  decades.  Even  more  noticeable 
than  student  self-government  is  the  tendency  recently  mani- 
fested to  transfer  more  of  the  control  of  the  government  of 
the  college  from  the  board  of  trustees  to  the  faculty. 

With  the  extension  of  commerce  and  the  attempt  to  bring 
it  under  efficient  organization  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
demand  has  been  made  upon  the  colleges  to  train  experts  in 
this  field.  Germany  was  the  first  to  engage  in  it,  and  just 
before  the  war  probably  led  the  world.  France  and  Eng- 
land have  remained  relatively  indifferent.  In  America,  the 
so-called  "  business  college  "  proved  entirely  too  narrow  in 
scope,  and  beginning  with  the  Wharton  School  of  Finance 
and  Commerce  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  (1881), 
the  higher  institutions  have  begun  to  train  for  this  import- 
ant fiejd.  Some  of  the  colleges  of  commerce,  like  those  of 
Dartmouth  and  Harvard,  demand  extensive  liberal  prepara- 
tion; others,  like  Wharton  and  the  schools  connected  with 
the  state  universities,  coordinate  their  liberal  and  vocational 
work;  a  few,  like  that  of  New  York  University,  give 
almost    exclusive   attention    to    the   practical   element. 

Two  other  movements  might  be  mentioned  as  illustrat- 
ing the  attempt  to  extend  the  opportunity  for  higher  edu- 
cation to  an  ever  increasing  number  of  people.  One 
is  the  development  of  extension  courses  and  the  other 
the  offering  of  evening  work  to  those  who  cannot  attend 
the  regular  sessions.     These  are  both  steps  in  the  direc- 


New  oppor- 
tunities in 
higher  edu- 
cation 


26 


College  Teaching 


Tba  future 
of  the  col- 
lege In 
American 
education  — 
Relation  to 
secondary 
schools 


The  junior 
college 


tion  of  equality  of  opportunity  which  is  the  ultimate  aim 
of  education   in   a  democratic   country. 

The  college  preceded  the  high  school  in  time,  and  when 
the  high  school  began  its  career  in  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  it  was  made  tributary  to  the  college 
in  all  essentials.  By  deciding  requirements  for  admis- 
sion, the  college  practically  prescribed  the  curriculum 
of  the  high  school;  by  conducting  examinations  itself  it 
practically  determined  methods  of  teaching  in  the  high 
school.  But  a  remarkable  change  in  these  respects  has 
taken  place  in  the  past  two  decades.  The  high  school, 
which  is  almost  omnipresent  in  our  country,  has  attained 
independence  and  today  organizes  its  curricula  without 
much  reference  to  the  college.  If  there  be  any  domina.- 
tion  in  college  entrance  requirements  today,  it  is  rather 
the  high  school  that  dominates.  Over  a  large  part  of 
the  country,  especially  in  states  maintaining  state  universi- 
ties, there  are  now  no  examinations  for  entrance  to  college. 
The  college  accepts  all  graduates  of  accredited  high 
schools  —  i.  e.,  high  schools  that  the  state  university  de- 
cides maintain  proper  secondary  standards.  This  growth 
in  strength  and  independence  has  been  accompanied  by  a 
lengthening  of  the  high  school  course  from  two  years 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  to  four  years  at  the 
present   time. 

With  the  introduction  of  the  principle  of  promotion  by 
subject  instead  of  by  class,  the  strong  high  schools  have 
been  enabled  to  undertake  to  teach  subjects  in  their  last 
years  which  were  formerly  taught  in  the  first  years  of  the 
college.  They  have  done  this  so  well  that  the  practice 
has  grown  up  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  especially  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  of  extending  the  course  of  the  high 
school  to  six  years  arid  of  completing  in  them  the  work 
of  the  first  two  years  of  college.  This  enables  more 
young  men  and  women  throughout  the  state  to  receive 
collegiate  education,  and  as  the  best-equipped  teachers 
in  the  high  schools  are  usually  in  the  last  years  and  the 
worst -equipped  teachers  in  the  college  are  usually  in  the 


History  and  Present  Tendencies         27 

first  years,  the  system  makes  for  better  education.  More- 
over, it  relieves  the  state  universities  of  the  crowds  of 
students  in  the  first  two  years  and  permits  overworked  pro- 
fessors to  concentrate  upon  the  advanced  work  of  the  last 
two  years  and  upon  research  work  in  the  graduate  schools. 
A  system  which  offers  so  many  advantages  and  is  so  pop- 
ular both  in  the  high  school  and  the  university  bids  fair  to 
spread. 

While  the  movement  making  for  the  elimination  of  the  ^\^j"j 
college  from  below  has  been  taking  place  in  the  West,  condensed 
another  movement  having  the  same  effect  has  been  taking  co„*fg* 
place  in  the  East,  only  the  pressure  has  been  from  above. 
The  tendency  is  spreading  for  the  professional  schools  of 
the  strong  universities  to  demand  a  college  degree  for  ad- 
mission. If  the  full  four  years  of  the  college  are  de- 
manded in  addition  to  the  four  years  of  the  secondary 
school  and  the  eight  years  of  the  elementary  school,  the 
great  majority  of  students  will  begin  their  professional 
education  at  twenty-two  and  their  professional  careers  at 
twenty-six,  and  they  will  hardly  be  self-supporting  before 
thirty.  This  seems  an  unreasonably  long  period  of  prepa- 
ration compared  to  that  required  in  other  progressive 
countries.  The  German  student,  for  example,  begins  his 
professional  studies  immediately  upon  graduation  from  the 
gymnasium  at  eighteen.  Hence  the  demand  has  arisen 
for  a  shortening  of  the  college  course.  This  demand  has 
been  met  in  several  ways.  In  some  colleges  the  courses 
have  been  arranged  in  such  a  way  that  the  bright  and  in- 
dustrious student  may  complete  the  work  required  for 
graduation  in  three  years.  In  others,  as  at  Harvard,  the 
student  may  elect  in  his  senior  year  the  studies  of  the 
first  year  of  the  professional  school.  Another  tendency 
in  the  same  direction  is  to  permit  students  in  the  junior 
and  even  in  the  sophomore  years  to  elect  subjects  of  a 
vocational  nature.  This  has  been  bitterly  contested  by 
those  who  hold  that  the  minimum  essentials  of  liberal 
culture  should  be  acquired  before  vocational  specialization 
begins.     Columbia  permits  a  student  to  complete  his  college 


28  College  Teaching 

and  professional  studies  in  six  years,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  he  receives  both  the  bachelor's  and  the  professional 
degrees. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  these  solutions,  of  the 
problem  and,  in  fact,  most  other  solutions  that  have  been 
suggested,  apply  only  to  a  college  connected  with  a  univer- 
sity; they  could  not  be  administered  in  the  independent 
college.  But  a  movement  has  developed  in  the  Middle 
West  which  may  result  in  another  solution;  i.  e.,  the  Junior 
College.  It  can  be  best  understood  by  reference  to  the 
policy  of  the  University  of  Chicago.  That  institution 
divides  its  undergraduate  Course  into  two  parts:  a  Junior 
College  of  two  years,  the  completion  of  whose  course  brings 
with  it  the  title  of  Associate  in  Arts,  and  a  Senior  College 
of  two  years,  the  completion  of  whose  course  is  rewarded 
with  the  regular  bachelor's  degree.  There  have  become 
affiliated  with  the  University  of  Chicago  a  considerable 
number  of  colleges  throughout  the  Mississippi  Valley  which 
have  frankly  become  Junior  Colleges  and  confine  their 
work  to  the  freshman  and  sophomore  years.  And  this  has 
become  true  of  other  universities.  It  would  seem  inevitable 
that  the  bachelor's  degree  will  finally  be  granted  at  the 
end  of  the  Junior  College  and  some  other  degree,  perhaps 
the  master's,  which  has  an  anomalous  place  in  American 
education  in  any  case,  at  the  end  of  the  Senior  College. 
This  has,  in  fact,  been  suggested  by  President  Butler.  The 
University  of  Chicago  has  also  struck  out  in  another  new 
direction.  Provided  a  certain  amount  of  work  is  done 
in  residence  at  the  University,  the  remainder  may  be  com- 
pleted in  absentia,  i.  e.,  through  correspondence  courses. 

The  Junior  College  movement  has  had  the  excellent  re- 
sult of  inducing  many  weak  colleges  to  confine  their  work 
to  what  they  really  can  afford  to  do.  Many  parts  of  our 
country  have  a  surplus  of  colleges,  chiefly  denominational. 
Ohio  alone  has  more  than  fifty.  The  cost  of  maintaining 
dormitories,  laboratories,  libraries,  apparatus,  and  other 
equipment  and  paying  respectable  salaries  cannot  be  met 
by  the  tuition  fees  in  any  college.     The  college  must  either 


History  and  Present  Tendencies         29 

have  a  large  income-producing  endowment,  which  few  have, 
or  must  receive  gifts  sufficient  to  meet  expenses.  Gifts  to 
colleges  and  universities  form  one  of  the  finest  evidences 
of  interest  in  higher  education  in  the  United  States,  and 
reach  really  colossal  proportions.  In  the  past  fifty  years, 
during  which  this  form  of  generosity  has  prevailed,  over 
600  million  dollars  have  been  given,  and  in  1914  gifts  from 
private  sources  amounted  to  more  than  30  million  dollars. 
Most  of  this  money  is  given  to  the  non-sectarian  institu- 
tions and  not  to  the  small  denominational  colleges 
scattered  over  the  country.  As  they  are  in  addition  unable 
to  compete  with  the  state  universities,  they  are  for  every 
reason  justified  in  becoming  Junior  Colleges.  But  this 
does  not  apply  to  the  old  independent  colleges,  such  as 
Amherst,  Williams,  Dartmouth,  etc.,  which  have  loyal 
and  wealthy  alumni  associations.  They  have  the  support 
necessary  to  retain  the  four-year  course  and  seem  deter- 
mined to  do  so. 

Just  what  the  outcome  of  the  whole  question  of  short- 
ening the  college  course  may  be  is  not  now  evident.  That 
concessions  in  time  must  be  made  to  the  demand  for  an 
earlier  beginning  of  professional  education  seems  certain. 
That  the  saving  should  be  made  in  the  college  course  is 
not  so  certain.  A  sounder  pedagogy  seems  to  indicate  that 
one  year,  if  not  two,  can  be  saved  in  the  period  from  the 
sixth  to  the  eighteenth  year.  It  is  probable  that  the 
arbitrary  division  of  American  education  into  elementary, 
secondary,  collegiate,  and  university,  each  with  a  stated 
number  of  years,  will  give  way  to  a  real  unification  of  the 
educational  process.  Most  Americans  would  regret  to  see 
the  college,  the  unique  product  of  American  education, 
which  has  had  such  an  honorable  part  in  the  development 
of  our  civilization,  disappear  in  the  unifying  process. 

Stephen  Pierce  Ducgan 

College  of  the  City  of  New   York 


30  College  Teaching 


BiBUOGRAPHY 

The  bibliography  on  the  American  college  is  almost  inexhaustible. 
The  list  here  given  is  confined  to  the  best  books  that  have  appeared 
since  1900. 

Angell,  J.  B.     Selected  Addresses.     New  York,  1912. 
Association   of   American    Universities.     Proceedings   of   the   Annual 

Conference. 
Butler,  N.  M.     Education  in  the  United  States.    New  York,  1900. 
Cattlll,  J.  M.     University  Control.     New   York.   1913. 
Crawford,    W.    H.    (editor).     The    American    College.    New    York, 

1915.     (Papers    by    Faunce,    Shorey,    Haskins,    Rhees,    Thwing, 

Finley,   Few,   Slocum,    Meiklejohn,   Claxton.) 
Cyclopedia    of    Education,    article    on    "  American    College.''    New 

York,   1911. 
Dexter,   E.   G.    History  of  Education   in  the   United  States.    New 

York,  1904. 
Draper,  A.  S.    American  Education.     Boston.  1909. 
Flexner,  a.     The  American  College:  A  Criticism.    General  Educa- 
tion Board,  New  York,  1908. 
Foster,  W.  T.     Administration  of  the  College  Curriculum.     Boston, 

1911. 
Harper,  W.  R.     The  Trend  in  Higher  Education.    Chicago,  1905. 
KiNCSLEY,    C.    D.     College    Entrance    Requirements.     United    States 

Bureau  of  Education,  1913. 
MacLean,    G.    E.     Present   Standards    of   Higher   Education   in    the 

United  States.     United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  1913. 
National  Association  of  State   Universities  in   the  United   States  of 

America.     Annual    Transactions    and    Proceedings. 
Risk,  R.  K.     America  at  College.     London,  1908. 
Snow,  L.  F.     College  Curriculum  in  the  United  States.     New  York. 

1907. 
Thwing.  C.  F.     History  of  Higher  Education  in  the  United  States. 

New  York,  1906. 

The  American  College;   What  It  Is  and  What  It  May  Become. 

New  York,  1914. 

College  Administration.     New  York,  1900. 

West,  A.  F.     Short  Papers  on  American  Liberal  Education.    New 
York,  1907. 


II 

PROFESSIONAL  TRAINING  FOR  COLLEGE 
TEACHING 

WERE  this  chapter  to  be  a  discussion  of  schemes  of ' '^^'odicwon 
training,  now  in  operation,  that  had  been  devised  to 
prepare  teachers  for  colleges,  it  could  not  be  written, 
for  there  are  no  such  schemes.  Many  elementary  and 
secondary  teachers  have  undergone  training  for  their  life 
work,  as  investigators  have,  by  a  different  regimen,  of 
course,  for  theirs.  But  if  college  and  university  teachers 
do  their  work  well,  it  is  because  they  are  born  with  com- 
petence for  their  calling,  or  were  self-taught,  or  happened 
to  grow  into  competence  accidentally,  as  a  by-product  of 
training  for  other  and  partly  alien  ends,  or  learned  to  teach  . 
by  teaching. 

There  are  able  college  men,  presidents  and  others,  who 
view  this  situation  with  equanimity,  if  not  with  satisfaction. 
Teachers  are  born,  not  made,  it  is  said.  Can  pedagogy 
furnish  better  teachers  than  specialized  scholarly  training? 
it  is  asked.  If  we  train  definitely  for  teaching,  we  shall 
diminish  scholarship,  cramp  and  warp  native  teaching 
faculty,  and  mechanize  our  class  procedure,  it  is  objected. 

Had  the  subject  of  training  for  college  teaching  been 
discussed,  no  doubt  other  objections  would  have  been  ad- 
vanced. But  it  has  not  been  discussed,  as  will  be  seen 
from  the  very  scant  bibliography  at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 
No  plan  of  training  for  college  teaching  is  in  operation, 
and  no  discussion  of  such  a  plan  can  be  found.  Each 
of  a  half-dozen  men  has  argued  his  individual  views,  and 
elicited  no  reply. 

This  state  of  facts  notwithstanding,  the  subject  is  well 
worth  discussing,  and  one  may  even  venture  to  prophesy 
that  in  a  decade,  or  at  latest  two,  the  subject  will  have 
a  respectable  literature,  and  enough  training  plans  will  be 
in    operation    to    permit   fruitful    comparisons. 

31 


32 


College  Teaching 


How  the 
college 
teacher 
has  been 
and  Is 
trained 


When  specific  training  is  first  urged  for  specialized  work, 
there  always  is  opposition.  The  outgoing  generation  re- 
members the  opposition  to  specialized  training  for  law, 
medicine,  and  engineering,  to  say  nothing  of  farming, 
school  teaching  and  business.  But  in  spite  of  obstructive 
and  retarding  objections,  specialized  types  of  training  for 
specialized  types  of  work  have  grown  in  number  and  favor, 
and  today  we  are  being  shown  convincingly  that  nations 
which  have  declined  to  set  up  the  fundamental  types  of 
special  training  find  themselves  able  to  make  effective  only 
a  fraction  of  their  resources.  The  majority  of  the  per- 
sonnel in  every  higher  calling  has  about  average  native 
aptitude  for  it,  and  it  is  just  the  average  man  who  can 
be  improved  in  competence  for  any  work  by  training 
directed  to  that  end  rather  than»to  another.  This  is,  of 
course,  true  of  college  teaching. 

In  early  days  in  this  country  the  great  majority  of  college 
teachers  were  clergymen,  trained  in  most  cases  abroad. 
Later  bookish  graduates  came  to  be  the  chief  source  of 
supply,  their  appointment  in  their  own  colleges,  and  in- 
frequently in  others,  following  close  upon  their  graduation. 
Well  into  the  third  quarter  of  last  century  college  faculties 
were  selected  almost  exclusively  from  these  two  types, 
representatives  of  the  former  decreasing  and  of  the  latter 
increasing  in  relative  number.  Neither  type  was  specifi- 
cally trained  for  teaching  in  colleges  or  elsewhere. 

With  the  founding  and  developing  of  Johns  Hopkins 
University  a  new  era  in  higher  education  opened  in  this 
country.  The  paucity  of  exact  scholarship  came  to  be 
known,  and  the  country's  need  of  scholarship  to  be  ap- 
preciated. In  colleges  grown  from  English  seedlings  we 
sought  to  implant  grafts  from  German  universities.  In- 
dependent colleges  and  colleges  within  universities,  while 
still  called  upon  by  American  traditions  and  needs  to  pre- 
pare their  students  for  enlightened  living  by  means  of  a 
broadening  and  liberating  training,  came  to  be  manned 
preponderatingly  by  narrowly  specialized  investigators, 
withdrawn  from  everyday  life,  with  concentrated  interests 


Training  for  College  Teaching  33 

focused  upon  subjects  or  parts  of  subjects,  rather  than  upon 
students.  Little  thought  was,  or  is  yet,  given  to  the  prepa- 
ration of  college  teachers  for  their  duties  as  teachers, 
and  that  little  rested,  and  still  in  large  measure  rests, 
satisfied  with  the  assumption  that  by  some  unexplained  and 
it  may  be  inexplicable  transfer  of  competence  a  man 
closeted  and  intensively  trained  to  search  for  truth  in  books 
and  laboratories  emerges  after  three  or  more  years  well 
equipped  for  divining  and  developing  the  mental  processes 
and  interests  of  freshmen. 

Once  fairly  examined,  this  assumption  lacks  plausibility. 
"  We  consider  the  Ph.D.  a  scholar's  degree  and  not  a 
teacher's  degree,"  says  the  dean  of  one  of  our  leading 
graduate  schools,  and  yet  preparation  for  this  scholar's 
degree  has  been  and  is  practically  the  only  formal  prepara- 
tion open  to  college  teachers  in  this  country. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  scholarship  is  one  of  the  Equipment 
basal  needs  of  college  teachers,  a  scholarship  that  keeps  couege 
alive,  and  is  human  and  contagious.  But  it  should  be  re-  teaci»e" 
membered  that  there  are  several  kinds  of  scholarship,  and 
it  is  pertinent  to  ask  what  kind  college  teachers  need. 
Should  they,  for  instance,  model  themselves  on  the  broad 
shrewdness  and  alluring  scholarly  mellowness  of  James 
Russell  Lowell  or  on  the  untiring  encyclopedic  exactitude 
and  minuteness  of  Von  Helmholz?  Or  is  there  an  even 
better  ideal  or  ideals  for  them?  I  would  suggest  that  the* 
teacher's  knowledge  of  his  subject  should,  essentially,  be 
of  a  kind  that  would  keep  him  in  intellectual  sympathy 
with  the  undeveloped  minds  of  his  students,  and  this  means 
chiefly  two  things.  The  more  points  of  contact  of  his 
knowledge  with  the  past  experience  and  future  plans  of  his 
students  the  teacher  has  at  his  command,  the  better  teacher 
he  will  be;  for  he  can  use  them,  not  as  resting  places,  but 
as  points  of  departure  for  the  development  of  phases  of 
his  subject  outside  the  students'  experience.  And  secondly, 
the  teacher  should  see  his  subject  entire,  with  its  parts, 
as  rich  in  number  and  detail  as  possible,  each  in  its  proper 
place  within  the  whole.     For  the  students'  knowledge  of 


34  College  Teaching 

the  subject  is  vague  and  general;  he  is  trying  to  place  it, 
and  many  other  new  things,  in  some  kind  of  a  coherent 
setting;  in  fact,  he  is  in  college  largely  for  the  very  purpose 
of  working  out  some  sort  of  rudimentary  scheme  of  things. 
The  duty  of  the  college  teacher  is  to  help  him  in  this 
quite  as  much  as  to  teach  him  a  particular  subject.  And, 
besides,  each  particular  subject  can  be  best  taught  if  ad- 
vantage is  taken  of  every  opportunity  to  attach  it  to  the 
only  knowledge  of  it  the  student  has,  vague  and  general 
though  it  be.  Highly  specialized  and  dehumanized  knowl- 
edge is  not  as  useful  for  the  college  teacher  as  broad  and 
vital  knowledge,  which  is,  of  course,  much  harder  to  ac- 
quire. Even  in  the  case  of  "  disciplinary  "  subjects,  there 
is  no  gain  in  concealing  the  human  bearings.  The  teacher 
should  be  trained  to  seize  opportunities  in  the  classroom 
and  out  to  help  the  student,  through  his  subject  and  his 
maturer  life  experience,  to  see  the  bearing  of  what  he  is 
learning  on  the  life  about  him  and  on  the  life  he  is  to  lead. 
This  is  the  college  teacher's  richest  opportunity  and  the 
opportunity  that  tries  him  most  shrewdly.  If  he  is  to  rise 
to  it,  his  entire  equipment,  native  and  acquired,  must  come 
into  play. 

What  else  does  the  teacher  need?  So  that  he  may  select 
the  best  and  continue  to  improve  them,  he  needs  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  different  methods  and  aims  in  the  teaching  of 
his  subject,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  of  the  results  attained 
by  each.  Too  much  of  college  teaching  is  a  blind  groping, 
chartless  and  without  compass.  Instead  of  expecting  each 
inexperienced  teacher  to  start  afresh,  he  should  set  out 
armed  with  the  epitomized  and  digested  teaching  experience 
of  those  that  have  gone  before  him. 

Finally,  the  teacher  needs  a  sympathetic  and  expert 
understanding  of  the  thinking  and  feeling  of  college 
students.  This  should  be  his  controlling  interest.  The 
teacher,  his  interest  in  his  subject,  and  in  all  else  except  the 
student,  should  be  instrumental,  not  final.  Every  avail- 
able strand  of  continuity  between  studenthood  and  teacher- 
hood  should  thereafter  be  preserved. 


Training  for  College  Teaching  35 

This  need  suggests  a  capital  weakness  of  the  training 
for  the  doctorate  in  philosophy  as  a  preparation  for  teach- 
ing. As  it  proceeds  it  shifts  the  interest  from  under- 
graduate student  to  scholarly  specialty,  and  steadily  snaps 
the  ties  that  bound  the  budding  investigator  to  his  college 
days.  It  also  explains  the  greatness  of  some  college 
teachers  and  personalities  before  the  eighties.  Their  de- 
grees in  arts  were  their  licenses  to  teach.  They  suffered 
no  drastic  loss  of  touch  with  undergraduate  thought  and 
life.  In  the  early  years  of  their  teaching  this  sympathetic 
and  kindly  understanding  was  fresh  and  strong,  and  they 
used  it  in  their  classroom  and  wove  it  into  the  tissue  of 
their  tutorial  activities.  A  discerning  observer  of  college 
faculties  can  even  today  discover  in  them  men  and  women 
who  entered  them  by  the  same  door  as  these  great  ones  of 
old,  irregularly  as  we  would  say  now, —  without  the  hall- 
mark, and  whose  good  teaching  is  a  surprise  to  their 
doctored  colleagues.  In  one  institution  I  know  of,  the  best 
five  teachers  some  years  ago  were  all  of  this  type.  The 
training  of  college  teachers  might  well,  it  therefore  seems, 
include  an  apprenticeship,  beginning  with,  or  in  exceptional 
cases  before,  graduation  from  college. 

But  the  duties  and  opportunities  of  the  college  teacher  ThecoUege 
do  not  stop  at  the  door  leading  from  his  classroom.  In  and  admin- 
addition  to  dealing  directly  with  students,  individually 
and  in  groups,  and  even,  if  possible,  with  their  families, 
as  he  grows  in  service  he  becomes,  as  faculty  member  and 
committeeman,  a  college  legislator  and  administrator.  In 
exercising  these  important  functions  he  needs  the  equip- 
ment that  would  aid  him  to  take  the  central  point  of  view, 
a  background  of  scholarly  knowledge  of  what  education  in 
general  and  college  education  in  particular  are  in  their 
methods  and  in  their  social  functions  and  purposes.  There 
is  too  much  departmental  logrolling  as  well  as  too  much 
beating  of  the  air  in  faculty  meetings,  and  too  many  excur- 
sions into  the  blue  in  faculty  legislation  and  administra- 
tion arrangements.  The  educational  views  of  faculty 
members   greatly   need    to   be   steadied,   ordered,   and   ap- 


istrator 


36 


College  Teaching 


A  tenta- 
tive scheme 
of  training 
for  college 
teachers 


preciably  broadened  and  deepened  by  a  developed  and 
trained  habit  of  thinking  educationally  under  the  safe- 
guards of  scientific  method  and  on  the  basis  of  an  adequate 
supply  of  facts.  That  pedagogy  has  made  but  the  smallest 
beginning  of  gathering  and  ordering  such  facts  and  de- 
veloping a  scientific  method  in  this  field  is  not  a  valid 
objection.  These  tasks  are  no  more  difficult  than  others 
that  have  been  compared,  as  they  will  be,  the  sooner  for 
being  imposed. 

It  is  significant  that  coincident  with  sharp  and  wide- 
spread criticism  of  the  American  college  (justified  in  part 
by  what  college  teachers  have  been  made  into  by  their 
training),  appear  demands  on  the  part  of  faculties  for 
more  power.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  remembered 
that  autocracy  is  the  simplest  and  easiest  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  that  history  shows  that  it  can  at  least  be  made 
to  work  with  less  brains  and  training  than  are  required 
for  the  working  of  democracy.  As  American  colleges  and 
universities  have  grown  in  complexity  and  responsibility, 
their  faculties  have  lost  power  because  they  did  not  acquire 
the  larger  competence  that  was  the  indispensable  condi- 
tion of  even  reasonably  successful  democratic  control.  It 
is  highly  desirable  that  the  power  of  faculties  should  in- 
crease to  the  point  of  preponderance.  But  the  added  power 
they  will  probably  acquire  will  not  be  retained  unless 
faculty  members  learn  their  business  much  better  than  they 
now  know  it  in  most  institutions.  Thomas  Jefferson,  when 
asked  which  would  come  to  dominate,  the  states  or  the 
federal  government,  replied  that  in  the  long  run  each  of 
the  opposed  pair  would  prevail  in  the  functions  in  which 
it  proved  the  more  competent. 

To  outline  a  scheme  of  such  importance  without  any 
experience  to  examine  as  a  basis  is  a  very  bold  undertaking, 
and  one  that  can  hope  for  but  partial  success.  What  I 
shall  propose,  however,  is  similar  to  the  proposals  of 
Pitkin  (5),  Home  (11),  and  Wolfe  (14),  my  only 
predecessors  in  this  rash  enterprise.  The  general  spirit 
and  purpose  of  our  proposals  are  the  same.     But  we  dis- 


Training  for  College  Teaching  37 

agree  more  or  less  in  details — which  is  fortunate,  as  it 
may  encourage  discussion  of  the  subject,  which  is  the  thing 
most  needed.  Indeed,  a  lively  sense  of  this  need  has  led 
me  to  venture  some  unpopular  assertions.  It  may  also  be 
admitted  that  the  desiderata  for  teachers  mentioned  above 
are  not  likely  to  be  all  insured  by  any  system  of  training. 

The  proposal  submitted  for  discussion  is  that  a  three- 
year  graduate  course  be  established,  its  spirit  and  purpose 
being  to  train  young  men  to  become  college  teachers. 
This  course  should  lead  to  a  doctorate;  e.  g.,  to  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  or  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in 
Teaching,  or  of  Docendi  Doctor.  What  degree  is  selected 
is,  in  the  long  run,  relatively  unimportant,  provided  the 
course  is  soundly  conducive  to  its  end. 

The  course  might  well  be  divided  into  three  parts,  having 
the  approximate  relative  value  in  time  and  effort  of  two 
fifths,  two  fifths,  and  one  fifth.  These  parts  should  pro- 
ceed simultaneously  throughout  the  three  years,  the  first 
being  an  apprenticeship  —  under  supervision,  of  course  — 
in  the  functions  of  the  college  teacher,  the  second  a  broad 
course  of  study  and  investigation  of  the  subject  to  be  taught, 
and  the  third  a  course  of  pedagogical  study  and  investiga- 
tion. Let  me  suggest  a  minimum  of  detail  within  these 
outlines. 

The  apprentice  teacher  would,  naturally,  do  the  least 
classroom  teaching  during  his  first  year,  and  the  most 
during  his  last.  He  would  also  each  year  "  advise "  a 
group  of  freshman  in  studies  and  in  life,  or  cooperate  with 
students  in  the  conduct  of  athletics,  dramatics,  publication 
work,  or  other  "activities."  On  all  this  apprentice  work 
he  would  report,  and  in  all  he  would  be  guided  and  super- 
vised appropriately  by  the  department  whose  subject  he 
was  teaching,  by  the  department  of  education,  and  by  other 
departments  concerned.  This  and  other  parts  of  the  train- 
ing would  attract  others  in  addition  to  narrowly  bookish 
graduates,  something  much  to  be  desired  (other  parts  would 
eliminate  those  not  bookish  enough),  and  would  tend  to 
keep    alive    in    all    apprentices    an    interest    in    students, 

123776 


38  College  Teaching 

especially  in  student  character,  and  to  prevent  them  from 
thinking  of  students  as  disembodied   minds. 

The  course  of  study  and  investigation  in  the  subject  to 
be  taught  should  be  based  on  adequate  imdergraduate  work 
in  the  same  and  allied  fields,  and  should  be  something 
like  the  honor  course  in  Oxford  or  Cambridge  (or  our 
old  M.A.  course)  in  its  conduct  and  purpose;  it  should 
hark  back  to  our  collegiate  origin  in  England.  The  work 
should  be  in  charge  of  a  don,  a  widely  and  wisely  read 
and  a  very  human  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend.  Stated 
class  meetings  and  precise  count  of  hours  of  attendance 
should  receive  little  emphasis.  But  wide  reading  of  the 
subject,  in  a  spirit  that  breeds  contagion,  running  off 
into  a  study,  in  books,  laboratories,  and  meetings,  of  the 
human  and  practical  bearings  of  the  subject,  should  be  re- 
quired, and  enough  conference  with  the  don  should  be  had 
to  enable  him  to  judge  and  criticize  the  student's  plan 
and  amount  of  work,  to  test  his  mettle  in  handling  the 
subject,  and  to  aid  him  to  grasp  it  as  a  whole  and  in  its 
chief  subdivisions,  and  to  get  glimpses  of  its  bearings  on 
and  place  in  human  life.  This  part  of  the  training  should 
lead  up  to  and  culminate  in  a  thesis  dealing  with  some 
major  phase  of  the  subject  comprehendingly  in  its  setting 
and  connections.  Naturally  this  program  could  be  carried 
out  most  successfully  with  the  social  subjects,  which  lend 
themselves  easily  to  culture,  like  history  or  philosophy, 
and  less  completely  with  the  exact  subjects,  which  are  better 
fitted  for  precise  discipline,  like  mathematics.  But  if 
treated,  as  far  as  possible,  after  the  manner  indicated,  even 
the  latter  could  be  made  better  instruments  for  the  training 
of  college  teachers  than  they  are  now  in  narrow  specializa- 
tion for  the  Ph.D  degree.  Among  returning  Rhodes 
scholars  some  excellent  material  for  dons  could  be 
found. 

The  fifth  of  the  course  directed  to  pedagogy  should  in- 
clude, a  very  brief  study  of  the  methods  of  teaching  the 
chosen  subject,  with  glimpses  into  teaching  methods  in 
general;  and  courses  in  the  history  and  philosophy  of  edu- 


Training  for  College  Teaching  39 

cation,  with  emphasis  on,  but  by  no  means  exclusive  deal- 
ing with,  the  educational  and  social  functions  of  the  college. 
It  might  include  an  intensive  investigation  of  some  rela- 
tively simple  college  problem  in  preparation  for  future 
faculty  membership.  All  this  should,  of  course,  be  in- 
timately articulated  with  the  student's  apprenticeship  work. 
Such  a  course  of  pedagogical  study  should  furnish  a  basis 
for  belter  teaching  methods  and  for  helpful  self-criticism 
therein;  should  encourage  the  formation  of  a  habit  of  think- 
ing and  working  out  educational  problems  scientifically 
with  eyes  open  to  the  purpose  of  the  college  as  a  whole; 
and  should  discourage  departmental  selfishness  in  legisla- 
tion  and  administration. 

The  college  would,  under  this  plan,  have  some  of  its  incidental 
teaching  done  at  minimum  cost  by  student  teachers,  who  ^*°  *° 
should  receive  only  the  graduate  scholarship  or  fellow- 
ship now  customary  for  Ph.D.  candidates.  Care  would  be 
necessary  to  prevent  the  assignment  to  them  of  mere  routine 
hackwork  without  training  value.  It  is  safe  to  say  that, 
though  slightly  less  mature,  their  services,  being  super- 
vised, would  be  more  valuable  than  those  rendered  during 
their  first  few  years  of  teaching  by  most  better-paid  winners 
of  the  doctorate  of  philosophy,  who,  if  they  do  so  at  all, 
grope  their  way  to  usefulness  as  teachers,  with  little  aid 
from  others  more  experienced. 

With  good  teaching  prepared  for,  required,  and 
adequately  rewarded  (a  point  to  be  developed  later), 
somewhat  longer  schedules  could  properly  be  assigned  and 
further  economy  effected.  Schedules  would,  of  course, 
have  to  be  kept  short  enough  to  allow  ample  time  for 
reading,  for  some  writing,  and  for  faculty  and  committee 
work  in  later  years.  But  time  would  not  be  required  by 
college  teachers  for  specialized  research,  and  the  freedom 
from  such  tasks  resulting  for  them  would  be  a  blessed 
relief  to  many  who  are  now  compelled  to  assume  a  virtue 
they  have  not,  and  to  conceal  the  love  of  teaching  they  have. 
And  when  we  bear  in  mind  the  heavy  mass  of  uninspired 
and   unimportant   hackwork   that   is   now   dumped    on   the 


40 


College  Teaching 


Consequent 
change  of 
plan  in  ap- 
pointments 
and  promo- 
tions 


scholarly  world,  we  shall  welcome  the  prospect  of  a  light- 
ened burden  for  ourselves. 

The  need  of  students,  especially  of  freshmen,  for  advis- 
ers is  widely  recognized.  They  come  into  a  new  freedom 
exercised  in  a  new  environment.  This  makes  for  bewilder- 
ment that  involves  loss  of  precious  time  and  opportunities, 
and  presents  perils  which  involve  possible  injuries  to  many 
and  certain  injuries  to  some.  Efforts,  many  and  various, 
to  constitute  a  body  of  advisers  chosen  from  among  faculty 
members  have  met  with  but  little  success.  With  few  ex- 
ceptions the  task  is  not  congenial  to  those  who  now  man 
our  faculties,  and  for  that  and  other  reasons  they  are  ill 
fitted  for  it.  But  a  greater  measure  of  success  has  been 
attained,  even  under  present  conditions,  when  the  coopera- 
tion of  volunteers  from  among  seniors  and  graduate 
students  has  been  had.  This  suggests  that  the  problem 
might  come  nearer  solution  when  some  dependence  came 
to  be  placed  upon  the  services  of  apprentices.  Such  serv- 
ice would  be  a  part  of  their  regular  work  having  a  bear- 
ing on  their  future  career,  and  would  therefore  be  super- 
vised and  rest  on  sustained  interest  and  the  consciousness 
that  it  was  counting. 

Finally,  young  student  teachers  would,  imder  proper  en- 
couragement and  arrangement,  help  materially  to  bridge 
the  gulf,  that  is  broader  than  is  wholesome,  between  a 
faculty  of  mature  men  and  young  students.  The  mixing 
of  these  different  generations,  so  far  as  possible,  is  much 
to  be  desired,  difficult  as  it  is  to  accomplish. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  details  of  appointment 
and  promotion  plans,  interesting  and  important  as  they 
are.  But  it  is  evident  that  the  scheme  of  training  outlined, 
if  adopted,  would  call  for  changes  in  present  practices. 

The  appointing  authorities  of  colleges  looking  for  young 
teachers  could  ascertain  their  strong  and  weak  points  as 
they  developed  during  their  apprenticeship  in  classrooms 
and  in  other  educational  activities,  as  well  as  the  quality 
and  trend  of  their  scholarship.  They  would  not  rest  satis- 
fied with   ascertaining  the  minute  corner   of  the  field   of 


Training  for  College  Teaching  41 

philosophy,  history,  or  physics  in  which  a  man  recom- 
mended had  done  research.  Records  could  be  kept  throw- 
ing much-needed  light  on  the  teaching  ability,  scholarship, 
and  personality  of  candidates  for  appointment.  In 
selecting  college  teachers,  appointing  authorities  would 
value  this  evidence  and  would  come  to  prefer  teaching 
power  to  investigating  ability. 

Moreover,  the  record  keeping,  and,  no  doubt,  some  of 
the  supervision  begun  during  the  apprentice  years  would 
continue  during  the  early  instructorial  years.  This  would 
render  it  possible  to  evaluate  and  to  value  effectiveness  in 
teaching  in  making  promotions.  Ambitious  teachers  would 
no  longer  be  practically  forced,  as  their  only  resort,  to 
neglect  their  students  and  give  their  best  energies  to  publi- 
cation in  order  to  make  a  name  and  get  a  call,  in  the  in- 
terest of  promotion.  The  expert  teacher  would  have  a 
chance  and  a  dignity  equal  to  that  of  the  skilled  investigator. 
The  individual  could  follow,  and  not  be  penalized  for  so 
doing,  his  own  bent  and  the  line  of  his  highest  capacity. 

The  training  now  given  in  graduate  schools  here  and  Training 
elsewhere  for  the  doctorate  in  philosophy  will,  of  course,  gators 
continue,  and  increase  rather  than  diminish.  Investigators 
will  be  preferred  in  research,  in  universities,  and  in  some 
colleges  and  college  departments.  They  will  be  increas- 
ingly prized  in  the  government  service  and  in  important 
branches  of  industry.  The  recent  terrible  experiences  burn 
into  our  minds  the  imperative  need  strong  nations  have 
of  exact  knowledge  and  of  skill  that  has  a  scientific  edge. 
And  the  specific  training  for  these  great  tasks  will  be 
stronger  when  it  is  based  on  a  college  course  in  which 
highly  effective  and  whole-hearted  teaching  is  valued  and 
rewarded. 

Sidney  E.  Mezes 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York 


42  College  Teaching 


Bibliography 

Anonymous.  Confessions  of  One  Behind  the  Times.  Atlantic,  Vol. 
3,  pages  353-356,  March,  1913. 

Canby,  H.  S.     The  Professor.     Harpers,  April.  1913. 

Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of  Teaching.  Bulletin 
No.  2,  May.  1908,  pages  55-57. 

Flexner,  Abraham.  Adjusting  the  College  to  American  Life.  Sci- 
ence, Vol.  29,  pages  361-372. 

Handschin,  C.  H.  Inbreeding  in  the  Instructional  Corps  of  Amer- 
ican Colleges  and  Universities.  Science,  Vol.  32,  pages  707-709. 
November,  1910. 

HoLLiDAY,  Carl.  Our  "  Doctored "  Colleges.  School  and  Society, 
Vol.  2,  pages  782-784.     November  27,  1915. 

Horne,  Herman  H.  The  Study  of  Education  by  Prospective  College 
Instructors.  School  Review,  Vol.  16,  March,  1908,  pages  162- 
170. 

Pitkin,  W.  B.  Training  College  Teachers.  Popular  Science,  Vol. 
74,  pages  588-595.    June,  1909. 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  Standards  of  American  Universities. 
Science,  Vol.  29,  page  172.     November  17,  1908. 

Robinson,  Mabel  L.  Need  of  Supervision  in  College  Teaching. 
School  and  Society,  Vol.  2,  pages  514-519,  October  9,  1915. 

Sanderson,  E.  D.  Definiteness  of  Appointment  and  Tenure.  Sci- 
ence, Vol.  39,  pages  890-896,  June,  1914. 

Stewart,  Charles  A.  Appointment  and  Promotion  of  College  In- 
structors.    Educational  Review,  Vol.  44,  1912,  pages  249-256. 

WiLCZYNSKi,  E.  J.  Appointments  in  College  and  Universities,  Sci- 
ence, February  28,  1909;  Vol.  29,  pages  336fif. 

Wolfe,  A.  B.  The  Graduate  School,  Faculty  Responsibility,  and  the 
Training  of  University  Teachers.  School  and  Society,  Septem- 
ber 16,  1916. 


Ill 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  COLLEGE 
TEACHING 


THE  investigator  of  educational  practices  and  methods   sutusof 
of  teaching  is  impressed  with  an  unmistakable  educa-   thecoUeges 
tional  anti-climax,  for  the  conviction  grows  on  him  that 
elementary  school  teaching  is  on  a  relatively  high  plane, 
that  secondary  school  teaching  is  not  as  effective,  and  that 
collegiate  teaching,  with  rare  exceptions,  is  ineffective  and 
in  urgent  need  of  reform.     A  superficial  survey  of  educa- 
tional literature  of  the  last  ten  years  shows  that  while  the 
problem  of  the  high  school  is  now  receiving  earnest  atten- 
tion, elementary  education  continues  to  absorb  the  earnest 
efforts  of  an  army  of  vitally  interested  investigators.     The    r 
field  of  college  pedagogics  is  still  virgin  soil,  and  no  sig- 
nificant  or   extensive   program   for   improved   methods   of 
teaching  has  yet  been  advanced. 

Three  earnest  and  intelligent  students  representing  three  ^ 
colleges  of  undisputed  standing  were  asked  informally  about 
their  instructors  for  the  current  semester.  Nothing  was  said 
to  make  these  students  aware  that  their  judgment  would  hold 
any  significance  beyond  the  friendly  conversation.  The 
summary  of  opinions  is  offered,  not  because  the  investiga- 
tion is  complete  and  affords  a  basis  for  scientific  conclusion, 
but  because  it  reflects  typical  college  teaching  in  three  recog-  ^ 
nized  institutions  of  more  than  average  standing. 


SrrDENT  No.  I 
■*  Teacher  A :  A  jiop- 
ular  and  interestini; 
teacher,  talks  enthusi- 
astically but  talks  all 
the  time.  Lessons  as- 
signed are  not  heard 
Students  seldom  recite. 
Written  quizzes  on 
themes  of  assiijned 
reading  are  rnted  bv 
an  assistant.  Tlie  work 
comes  hack  with  an  A. 
a  C,  or  a  D,  but  we  do 


Student  No  II 
Tfacher  A  :  A  good 
•eacher  of  mathematics. 
He  assigns  a  new  les- 
son for  home  study. 
Tlie  next  day  he  asks 
ouestions  on  this  lesson 
The  answers  are  writ- 
fen  out  on  the  blark 
Imards.  After  fifteen 
minutes  all  students 
take  their  seats  and  the 
work  on  the  blackboa'-d 
is    taken    up    for   expla- 

43 


Sti'dknt  No.  Ill 
'  Teacher  A  :  A  verv 
noi)ular  teacher  of 
Knglish.  If  the  final 
e.xamination  is  given  by 
another  teacher.  I  may 
not  have  enough  spe- 
cific facts  to  pass. 
We  began  Chaucer  last 
week.  He  spent  a 
good  part  of  each  ses- 
sion reading  to  us. 
All  of  us  were  sur- 
prised     to      find      how 


44 


College  Teaching 


Student  No.  I 
not  know  why  the  rat- 
ing was  given.  Fre- 
quently two  students 
■who  worked  together 
are  marked  B  and  D 
respectively  for  the 
same  work.  Some- 
times a  student  who 
"  cribbed  "  his  outline 
from  another  who  actu- 
ally "  worked  it  up  " 
receives  a  higher  mark 
than  was  given  for  the 
original. 


i  Teacher  B :  Rather 
an  interesting  teacher; 
assigns  lessons  from  a 
book.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  hour  he 
asks  questions  on  the 
text  but  is  soon  carried 
away  and  rambles 
along  for  the  period, 
touching  on  every  sub- 
ject. We  never  com- 
plete a  chapter  or 
topic.  The  succeeding 
hour  we  take  the  next 
chapter,  which  meots 
the  same  fate.  Writ- 
ten tests  determine  the 
students'  rank.  The 
grade  for  the  written 
test  is  announced,  but 
the  papers  are  not  re- 
turned and  one  never 
knows  why  the  papers 
were  rated  C  or  D. 


Teacher  C:  A  con- 
scientious teacher  in 
physics.  He  assigns  a 
definite  lesson  for  each 
recitation    of   the    term. 


Student  No.  II 
nation.  He  explains 
every  difficulty  very 
clearly.  We  rarely 
cover  the  lesson.  Some 
topics  go  unexplained 
because  during  the  next 
hour  the  blackboard 
problems  are  based  on 
the  new  lesson.  If  I 
understood  the  second 
half  of  each  lesson  as 
clearly  as  the  first,  I 
would  feel  hopeful  of  a 
good  grade  in  the  final 
examination. 


Teacher  B :  A  dry 
course  in  Art  History 
and  Appreciation.  We 
take  up  the  history  of 
architecture,  painting, 
and  sculpture.  The 
names  of  the  best  art- 
ists are  mentioned,  and 
their  many  works  con- 
fuse us.  We  memorize 
Praxiteles,  Phidias, 

Myron,  the  ancient 
cairns,  the  parts  of  an 
Egyptian  tenfi)le.  Pic- 
tures are  shown  on  the 
screen.  I  elected  this 
course  in  the  hope  that 
it  would  teach  me 
something  about  pic- 
tures, how  to  judge 
them  and  give  me 
standards  of  beauty, 
etc.,  but  it  has  ben^i 
history  and  not  appre 
ciation  so  far.  We  do 
not  see  any  beauty  in 
the  pictures  of  old 
madonnas.  Even  the 
religious  ones  among 
us  say  this. 

i  Teacher  C:  A  good, 
clear,  effective  lecturer 
in  chemistry.  Everv 
lesson  we  learn  a  defi- 
nite   principle    and    its 


Student  No.  Ill 
much  more  the  text 
meant  than  after  our 
own  reading.  In  the 
last  session  we  went  to 
our  book  on  literature 
and  tried  to  justify  the 
characterization  wlilch 
the  author  gives  of 
Chaucer.  The  class 
agreed  with  all  in  the 
book  except  in  one 
characterization.  In  the- 
composition  work  we 
took  up  the  structure 
of  short  narratives. 
The  assignment  was  to 
find  narratives  in  cur- 
rent periodicals,  in  the 
writings  of  standard 
authors,  in  newspapers, 
and  then  attempt  to 
find  whether  the  struc- 
ture we  studied  was 
followed.  In  each  case 
we  had  to  justify  any 
departure  from  the 
standard.  There  was 
little  time  for  the  foot- 
notes in  Chaucer.  I 
hope  we  are  not  asked 
for  these  on  the  final 
examination. 
'  Teacher  B:  A  very 
conscientious  teacher 
of  chemistry.        He 

gives  us  a  ten-minute 
written  quiz  each  hour 
on  the  work  in  the 
book  or  on  the  matter 
discussed  in  the  last 
lecture.  The  rest  ,  of 
the  hour  is  spent  >n^ 
explanation  of  difficult " 
points  and  in  the  appli- 
cation of  what  we 
learned,  to  industry 
and  ])hysiology.  It  is 
surprising  to  see  the 
interest  the  class  shows 
in  the  chemical  expla- 
nations of  things  we 
never  noticed  before. 


/  Teacher  C :  A  schol- 
arly instructor  in  his- 
tory. He  assigns 
thirty  to  forty  pages  in 
English      history,      and 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     45 


Student  No.  I 
At  the  beginning  of 
the  hour  students  go  to 
the  board  to  write  out 
answers  to  questions  on 
the  lesson.  The  hour 
is  spent  listening  to  the 
recitation  of  each  stu- 
dent and  the  e.xplana- 
tion  of  difficult  points. 
We  never  cover  more 
than  one  half  of  the 
lesson;  sometimes  only 
one  third.  The  next 
hour  the  questions  are 
on  the  new  lesson,  not 
on  the  incompleted 
portion  of  the  former 
lesson.  My  knowledge 
of  physics  is  punctu- 
ated by  areas  of  igno- 
rance. These  alternate 
with  topics  that  I 
think  I  understand 
clearly. 

Teacher  D  :  A  quiet, 
modest  man.  Sits  back 
comfortably  in  his  seat 
and  asks  questions  on 
assigned  texts.  The 
questions  review  the 
text,  and  he  explains  in 
further  detail  the  facts 
in  the  book.  The  con- 
scientious and  capable 
student  finds  him  su- 
perfluous; the  indiffer- 
ent student  remains  un- 
moved by  his  i)h1eg- 
matic  presentation ;  the 
poor  student  finds  him 
a  help;  the  shirk  who 
listens  and  takes  notes 
is  saved  studying  at 
home. 


^  Teacher  E :  A  good 
teacher  of  Latin. 
He  explains  the  work, 
hears  the  lessons,  gives 
drills,  calls  on  almost 
everybody  every  hour. 
The  written  work  is  re- 
turne(^  properly  cor- 
rected and  rated. 


Student  No.  II 
application.  The  lab- 
oratory work  of  each 
week  is  related  to  the 
lecture  and  throws  in- 
teresting side  lights  on 
it.  We  have  quiz  sec- 
tions once  a  week. 
Here  the  work  is  oral 
and  written. 


■  Teacher  D :  A  very 
strict  teacher  of  Eng- 
lish literature.  He  as- 
signs text  for  study, 
and  we  must  be  pre- 
pared for  detailed  ques- 
tions on  each  of  the 
great  writers.  He  is 
very  strict  and  de- 
tailed. We  had  to 
know  all  the  fifteen 
qualities  of  Macaulay's 
style.  "  No,  we  did 
not  read  Macaulay  this 
term ;  we  study  from  a 
history  of  English  lit- 
erature that  tells  us  all 
about  the  master  writ- 
ers." 


Teacher  E  :      A  quiet, 
dignified  gentleman 

^vho  teaches  us  psy- 
chology. A  chai)ter  is 
assigned  in  the  book, 
and  the  hour  is  spent 
hearing  students  recite 
on  the  text.  He  st'cks 
closely  to  the  book. 
He  explains  clearly 
when  the  book  is  not 
clear  or  not  specific 
enough.  The  hours 
drag,  for  the  l)ook  is 
good  and  those  who 
studied  the  lessons 
weary  at  what  seems  to 
us  needless  repetition. 


Student  No.  Ill 
then  he  lectures  to  us 
about  the  topics  dis- 
cussed by  the  author. 
He  points  out  errors  in 
dates  and  places.  Occa- 
sionally he  calls  on  a 
student.  At  the  end  of 
each  month  he  gives  a 
written  test.  We  re- 
member little  of  what 
we  learned  and  must 
"  bone  away  "  at  about 
200  to  300  pages. 
His  English  is  delight- 
ful and  we  enjoy  listen- 
ing at  times,  but  I 
seem  to  retain  so 
little.  "  Yes,  half  the 
term  is  up.  We  are 
beginning  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII." 


Teacher  D :  A  very 
enthusiastic  lecturer  in 
economics.  He  ex- 
plains the  important 
principles  in  economics. 
We  follow  in  a  printed 
syllabus,  so  that  it  is 
unnecessary  to  take 
notes.  He  talks  well 
and  makes  things  clear. 
We  are  given  a.ssign- 
ments  in  S 's  "  Ele- 
ments of  Economics," 
on  which  we  are  ques- 
tioned by  another 
teacher.  "  Is  the  work 
in  the  quiz  section  re- 
lated directly  to  the  lec- 
tures ?  Sometimes.  No, 
we  do  not  take  current 
economic  x^fblems. 
These  are  given  in  a 
later  elective  course." 

Teacher  E :  An  in- 
structor in  psychology. 
His  hours  are  weary 
and  dreary.  A  chap- 
ter is  assigned  in 
X's  "  Elements  of  Psy- 
choloey."  He  asks  a 
question  or  two  and 
then  repeats  what  the 
author  tells  us,  even 
using  the  illustrations 
and  diagrams  found 
in  the  text.  Sometimes 
a  student  reads  a  paper 
which  he  prepared. 
"  No,  we  do  not  get 
very  much  out  of  these 
papers  read  by  stu- 
dents. But  then  we 
get  just  as  little  from 
the  instructor.     No,  we 


46 


College  Teaching 


Student  No.  I 


'  Teacher  F:  One 
cannot  pass  judgment 
on  this  teacher  of  me- 
chanical drawing.  He 
gives  out  a  problem, 
works  a  type  on  the 
t>oard,  and  then  dis- 
tributes the  plates. 
We  draw.  He  helps 
us  when  we  ask  for 
aid,  otherwise  he  walks 
about  the  room.  I 
suppose  one  cannot 
show  teaching  ability 
in  such  a  subject. 


Student  No.  II 


'^  Teacher  F :  A  learn- 
ed Latin  scholar  who 
is  very  enthusiastic 
about  his  sjieciiilty. 
The  students  exhibit 
cheerful  tolerance.  He 
assigns  a  given  num- 
ber of  lines  per  day. 
These  we  prepare  at 
home.  In  class  we 
{rive  a  translation  in 
English  that  has  dis- 
torted phrases  and 
clauses,  lest  we  be  ac- 
cused of  dishonesty  in 
preparation.  The  rest 
of  the  time  is  spent  on 
questions  of  syntax, 
references,  footnotes, 
and  the  identification 
of  the  real  and  myth- 
ological characters  in 
the  text.  The  teacher 
is  animated  and  ef- 
fective. 


Student  No.  Ill 
never  apply  the  psy- 
chology to  our  own 
thinking  nor  to  teach- 
ing nor  to  the  behavior 
of  children  or  adults." 
i  Teacher  F:  A  for- 
bidding but  very  strict 
Latin  teacher.  His 
questions  are  fust  and 
numerous  and  the  hesi- 
tating student  is  lost. 
He  assigns  at  least 
twenty-five  per  cent 
.more  per  lesson  than 
any  other  instructor. 
The  hour  is  spent  in 
translating,  parsing, 

and  quizzing  on  histo- 
rical and  mythological 
allusions.  Every  "pony" 
user  is  soon  caught,  be- 
cause he  is  asked  so 
many  questions  on  each 
sentence.  There  is  a 
distinct  relief  when  the 
hour  is  over  because 
he  is  constantly  at  you. 
"Will  I  take  the  next 
course  in  Latin  ?  Not 
unless  I  must.  This 
is  prescribed  work.  It 
can't  end  too  soon  for 
me,  nor  for  the  others 
in   the   class." 


Oanses  of 
ineffective 
college 
teaching 


The  student  of  scientific  and  statistical  measurements  in 
education  may  object  to  attaching  any  importance  to  these 
informal  characterizations  of  college  teachers  by  under- 
graduates. College  teachers  interested  in  the  pedagogical 
aspects  of  their  subject,  and  college  administrators  who 
spend  time  observing  class  instruction  will  concede  that 
these  young  men  were  not  at  all  unfortunate  in  their  teach- 
ers. The  significance  of  these  characterizations  is  not  that 
college  teachers  vary  in  teaching  efficiency,  but  rather  that 
inefficient  college  teaching  is  general,  and  that  the  causes  of 
this  inefficiency  are  such  as  respond  readily  to  simple 
remedial  measures  very  well  known  to  elementary  and  high 
school  teachers. 

It  may  be  well  to  note  the  chief  causes  of  ineffective  col- 
lege teaching  before  directing  attention  to  a  remedial  pro- 
gram: 

(a)   Many   college   teachers   hold   to   be   true  the   time- 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     47 

honored  fallacy  that  the  only  equipment  for  successful 
teaching  is  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject.  They  do 
not  stop  to  square  their  belief  with  actual  facts.  They  over- 
look the  examples  of  their  colleagues  possessed  of  undis- 
puted scholarship  who  are  failures  in  the  classroom.  They 
fail  to  realize  that  there  are  psychological  and  pedagogical 
aspects  of  the  teaching  arf  which  demand  careful  organiza- 
tion, skilful  gradation  and  a  happy  selection  of  illustrations 
intimately  related  to  the  lives  of  the  students. 

(6)  Closely  related  to  this  first  cause  of  ineffective 
teaching  is  a  lack  of  sympathetic  understanding  of  the 
student's  viewpoint.  The  scholarly  teacher,  deep  in  the 
intricacies  and  speculations  of  his  specialty,  is  often  im- 
patient with  the  groping  of  the  beginner.  He  may  not 
realize  that  the  student  before  him,  apparently  indifferent 
to  the  most  vital  aspects  of  his  subject,  has  potentialities 
for  development  in  it.  His  interest  in  his  researches  and 
his  vision  of  the  far-reaching  human  relations  of  his  sub- 
ject may  blind  him  to  the  difficulties  that  beset  the  path 
of  the  beginner. 

(c)  The  inferiority  of  college  teaching  in  many  institu- 
tions can  often  be  traced  to  the  absence  of  constructive 
supervision.  The  supervising  officer  in  elementary  and 
secondary  schools  makes  systematic  visits  to  the  class- 
rooms of  young  or  ineffective  teachers,  observes  their  work, 
offers  remedial  suggestions,  and  tries  to  infuse  a  profes- 
sional interest  in  the  technique  of  teaching.  In  the  college 
such  supervision  would  usually  stir  deep  resentment.  The 
college  teacher  is,  in  matters  of  teaching,  a  law  unto  him- 
self. He  sees  little  of  the  actual  teaching  of  his  colleagues; 
they  see  as  little  of  his.  His  contact  with  the  head  of 
his  department,  and  his  departmental  and  faculty  meet- 
ings, are  usually  limited  to  discussions  of  college  policy 
and  of  the  sequence  and  content  of  courses.  Methods  of 
teaching  are  rarely,  if  ever,  brought  up  for  discussion. 
The  results  are  inevitable.  Weaknesses  in  teaching  are 
perpetuated,  while  the  devices  and  practices  of  an  effective 
teacher  remain  unknown  to  his  colleagues. 


48  College  Teaching 

id)  A  fourth  factor  which  accounts  for  much  of  the  in- 
efficiency in  college  pedagogics  is  made  the  thesis  of 
Dr.  Mezes'  chapter  on  "  The  Training  of  the  College 
Teacher."  The  college  teacher,  unlike  teachers  in  other 
grades  of  an  educational  system,  is  expected  to  teach  with- 
out a  knowledge  of  educational  aims  and  ideals,  and  with- 
out a  knowledge  of  the  psychological  principles  which 
should  guide  him  in  his  work.  The  prospective  college 
teacher,  having  given  evidence  of  scholarship  alone,  has 
intrusted  to  him,  the  noisy,  expressive,  and  rapidly  de- 
veloping youth.  We  set  up  no  standards  aside  from  char- 
acter and  scholarship.  We  do  not  demand  evidence  of 
teaching  ability,  a  knowledge  of  applied  psychology  and 
of  accepted  teaching  practices,  skill  in  presentation,  power 
of  organizing  material  in  graded  sequence,  or  ability  to 
frame  a  series  of  questions  designed  to  stimulate  and  sus- 
tain the  self-activity  of  the  pupils.  The  born  college 
teacher  remains  the  successful  teacher.  The  poor  college 
teacher  finds  no  agent  which  tends  to  raise  his  teaching 
to  a  higher  level.  The  temperamentally  unfit  are  not 
weeded  out.  But  teaching  is  an  art,  and  like  all  arts  it 
requires  conscientious  professional  preparation,  the  mastery 
of  underlying  scientific  principles,  and  practice  under  super- 
vision scrupulous  in  its  attention  to  technique. 

We  have  here  outlined  a  few  of  the  causes  which 
keep  college  teaching  on  a  low  plane.  The  remedial 
measures  are  in  each  case  too  obvious  to  mention.  It  re- 
mains for  college  authorities  to  formulate  a  well-conceived 
and  adjustable  program  of  means  and  methods  of  ridding 
college  teaching  of  those  forces  which  keep  it  in  a  dis- 
couraging state.  It  is  our  purpose  in  the  remainder  of 
this  chapter  not  to  evolve  a  system  of  pedagogics,  but  rather 
to  touch  on  the  most  vital  principles  in  teaching  which  must 
be  borne  in  mind  if  college  teaching  is  to  be  rendered  peda- 
gogically  comparable  to  elementary  and  secondary  teaching. 
We  shall  confine  ourselves  to  teaching  practices  which  are 
applicable  to  all  subjects  in  the  college  curriculum. 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     49 


PRINCIPLES    IN    COLLEGE    TEACHING 

One  of  the  very  first  elements  in  eood  teaching  is  the   ^  clearly 

1  ••  e  iiici-i  •  conceived 

clear  recognition  ot  a  well-denned  aim  that  gives  purpose    aim  must 

and  direction  to  all  that  is  attempted  in  a  lesson  or  in  a  teachioK" 
period.  The  chief  cause  of  poor  teaching  is  aimless  teach- 
ing, in  which  the  sole  object  seems  to  be  to  fill  the  allotted 
time  with  talking  about  the  facts  of  a  given  subject.  We 
sit  patiently  through  a  recitation  in  English  literature. 
Act  I,  Scene  1  of  Hamlet  had  been  assigned  for  home  study 
and  is  now  the  text  for  the  hour.  Questions  are  asked 
on  the  dramatic  structure  of  this  scene,  on  versffication,  on 
the  meaning  of  words  and  expressions  now  obsolete,  on 
peculiarities  of  syntax,  and  finally  a  question  or  two  on  a 
character  portrayal.  The  bell  brings  these  questions  to 
an  abrupt  end.  Ask  teacher  and  students  the  aim  of  all 
these  questions.  To  the  former,  they  are  means  of  test- 
ing the  students'  knowledge  of  a  var'iety  of  facts  of  language 
and  literature;  to  the  latter  they  mean  little,  and  serve 
only  to  repress  a  living  interest  and  appreciation  of  living 
literary  text.  How  much  more  effective  the  hour  in  English 
literature  would  have  been  if  the  entire  act  had  been  as- 
signed with  a  view  to  giving  the  students  an  insight  into  the 
dramatic  structure  of  each  scene  in  this  act  and  of  the  act 
as  a  whole.  All  the  questions  would  then  bear  on  dran\atic 
movement,  on  the  dramatist's  technique,  on  his  way  of 
arousing  interest  in  his  story,  on  devices  for  giving  the 
cause  and  the  development  of  the  action.  In  the  opening 
scene  we  read: 

Elsinore.    A  Platform  before  the  Castle.  . 

Francisco  at  his  post.     Enter  to  him  Bernardo. 

Ber.     Who's  there? 

Fran.     Nay,  answer  me;  stand,  and  unfold  yourself. 

Ber.    Long  live  the  King! 

Fran.     Bernardo? 

Ber.    He. 

Fran.    You  come  most  carefully  upon  your  hour. 

Ber.    Tis  now  struck  twelve;  get  thee  to  bed,  Francisco. 


50 


College  Teaching 


Tbe  educa- 
tional aim 
Ts.  the  in- 
stmctional 
aim 


Fran.    For  this  relief  much  thanks:  'tis  bitter  cold.    And  I  am  sick 
at  heart. 
Ber.     Have  you  had  a  quiet  guard? 

Here  we  see  the  guard  on  duty  challenged  by  his  relief, 
a  most  unusual  procedure.  Why  does  this  experienced 
guard  so  far  forget  the  customary  forms  as  to  challenge 
the  guard  on  duty?  What  possible  reason  can  there  be 
for  this?  How  would  you  read  the  second  line?  What 
words  must  be  emphasized  to  show  the  surprise  of  the 
challenged  guard?  If  the  entire  hour  were  given  to  the 
whole  of  Act  I  and  all  the  questions  sought  to  reveal 
to  the  students  Shakespeare's  power  of  dramatic  structure, 
a  definite  and  lasting  impression  would  be  carried  away. 
Act  I  should  be  assigned  again,  but  with  a  different  aim. 
The  teacher  now  seeks  to  make  clear  to  the  student  the 
dramatist's  method  of  character  portrayal.  A  third  hour 
may   be  spent   on   certain   portions   of   this   act  in  which 

,  attention  is  given  to  significant  facts  of  language,  choice  of 
words,  or  poetic  form.  When  a  guiding  aim  controls,  all 
questions,  suggestions,  explanations,  and  illustrations  tend 
to  create  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  a  rich  and  unified  impres- 
sion. Where  no  distinct  aim  gives  direction  to  the  work, 
the  student  is  confused  by  a  variety  of  facts  —  isolated  facts 
—  that  are  displaced  by  another  group  of  disjointed  bits 

^  of  ^information.  Aimless  teaching  leads  to  mental  wander- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  student;  teaching  governed  by  a 
definite  aim  leads  to  mental  development  and  to  the  acquisi- 
tion of  new  viewpoints  and  new  power. 

We  must  distinguish  clearly  between  the  general  or  edu- 
cational aim  and  the  specific  or  instructional  aim.  The 
former  sums  up  the  hope  of  an  entire  course  or  an  entire 
subject.  In  the  teaching  of  literature  we  hope  to  develop 
a  vital  interest  in  reading,  a  discriminating  taste,  an  en- 
livened imagination  and  a  quickened  perception  which  en- 
able the  student  to  visualize  the  situations  and  to  ac- 
quire the  thought  on  the  printed  page.  The  instruc- 
tional aim,  however,  is  much  more  specific;  it  posits  a 
task  that  can  be  accomplished  in  a  very  limited  time;   it 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     51 

seeks  to  give  an  insight  into  Shakespeare's  mastery  of  words, 
or  into  his  power  of  character  portrayal,  or  into  his 
methods  of  enhancing  dramatic  interest.  Each  of  these 
two  types  of  aims  has  its  unmistakable  influence  on  methods 
of  teaching. 

What  aim  should  we  select  to  guide  us  in  formulating   The  variety 
principles  of  collegiate  teaching?     The  question  is  almost   that  may 
basic,  for  the  selection  of  a  proper  aim  gives  color  and  f°^^'f 
direction  to  all  our  teaching.     In  brief,  the  aim  may  be 
one  of  the  following: 

(a)  The  informational  aim.  A  given  course  in  chemistry 
or  physics  may  be  designed  to  sum  up  for  the  student  the 
vital  facts  necessary  for  an  intelligent  comprehension  of 
common  phenomena.  With  such  an  aim,  it  is  obvious  that 
only  so  much  laboratory  work  will  be  assigned  as  will  give 
the  student  a  general  knowledge  of  the  tools  and  methods 
of  laboratory  work;  that  the  major  portion  of  the  work  will 
be  divided  into  occasional  lectures,  regular  book  assign- 
ments, and  extensive  applications  of  knowledge  gained  to 
surrounding  chemical  and  physical  phenomena.  A 
language  course  may  seek  to  give  pupils  a  stock  of  words 
designed  to  develop  power  to  read  the  language  in  a  very 
short  time.  Obviously,  grammatical  work  and  translations 
into  the  mother  tongue  will  now  be  minimized,  and  those 
devices  which  give  the  eye  the  power  to  find  thought  in 
new  symbols  will  be  emphasized.  There  is  no  standard 
for  determining  the  relative  importance  of  this  informa- 
tional or  utilitarian  aim  when  compared  to  other  aims. 
The  significant  thing  is,  not  so  much  to  discover  its  rela- 
tive importance,  but,  having  adopted  it,  to  devise  methods 
which  clearly  tend  to  bring  the  students  to  an  effective 
realization  of  it. 

(6)  The  disciplinary  aim.  On  the  other  hand,  the  con- 
trolling aim  in  any  subject  may  be  to  develop  the  power 
to  reason  about  natural  phenomena,  the  power  to  ob- 
serve, and  the  power  to  discriminate  between  vital  and 
inconsequential  details.  If  this  be  the  aim,  the  assign- 
ment of  subject  matter  must  be  reduced,  the  phenomena 


52  College  Teaching 

studied  must  be  submitted  in  the  forms  of  problems,  first- 
hand observations  must  be  made,  and  students  must  be  led 
to  see  the  errors  in  their  observations  and  their  reasoning. 
The  course  which  is  extensive  in  subject  matter  and  which 
relies  on  the  lecture  method  sacrifices  mental  discipline  for 
information.  From  the  teaching  point  of  view,  the  result 
of  the  time-honored  quarrel  between  the  disciplinists  and 
the  utilitarians  is  not  so  important  as  the  adoption  of  a 
definite  aim,  and  the  formulation  of  consistent  methods  of 
teaching  in  order  to  attain  that  aim.  Ineffective  teaching 
is  not  caused  by  the  selection  of  the  one  aim  or  of  the 
other,  but  by  systems  of  instruction  devoid  of  any  aim  at 
all. 

(c)  The  appreciative  or  (esthetic  aim.  It  is  obvious  that 
a  subject  may  be  taught  for  the  power  it  develops  for 
jesthetic  appreciation  of  the  arts  of  life.  We  have  here  a 
legitimate  aim  of  coordinate  importance  with  the  two  pre- 
ceding ones;  and  if  we  adopt  it,  the  vital  thing  in  teaching 
is  to  allow  this  appreciative  aim  to  mold  all  instructional 
effort.  It  is  obvious  that  a  college  course  in  aesthetics  must 
be  inspirational,  must  seek  to  develop  a  real  appreciation 
of  the  beauty  of  line,  of  color  and  of  sound.  Such  a  course 
must,  therefore,  encourage  contact  with  the  products  of  art, 
rather  than  promote  the  study  of  texts  on  the  history  of  any 
of  the  arts.  So,  too,  courses  in  music  or  in  literature  which 
do  not  send  the  student  away  with  an  intense  desire  to  hear, 
to  see,  to  feel  the  masterpieces  of  music  or  literature  must  be 
judged  dismal  failures.  The  formalization  of  an  art  course 
given  to  the  general  student,  kills  the  live  material  and 
leaves  the  student  himself  cold. 

id)  The  aim  to  teach  technique.  An  effective  college 
course  may  select  for  its  aim  the  development  of  the 
technique  of  a  given  subject.  It  is  obvious  that  a  science 
course  governed  by  this  aim  will  emphasize  the  laboratory 
method  at  the  expense  of  information;  that  a  course  in 
the  social  sciences  will  seek  to  cover  less  ground  but  will 
develop  in  the  student  the  power  to  find  facts  and  use  them 
to  formulate  an  intelligent  conclusion;   that  a  course  in 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     53 

biology  will  minimize  names,  classifications  and  structures, 
but  will  emphasize  field  and  laboratory  work  and  the  modes 
of  utilizing  the  data  thus  discovered.  We  must  repeat  the 
statement  made  before,  that  no  one  can  set  himself  up  as  the 
final  arbiter  of  the  claims  of  these  contending  aims.  They 
are  all  vitally  necessary  for  a  thorough  understanding  of 
life's  problems.  The  significant  conclusion  for  teaching 
is  that  one  or  more  of  these  aims  must  be  consciously  chosen 
and  that  content  and  method  must  be  determined  by  them 
absolutely.  Teaching  for  the  sake  of  teaching  consumes 
time  and  makes  drafts  on  energy,  but  it  leaves  the  student 
no  richer  in  power  and  with  no  truer  understanding. 

It  is  obvious  that  no  general  law  can  be  formulated  for   should  the 
the  adjustment  of  aims  to  the  needs  of  students.     Teachers  fl^J*or™°*^*' 
have  usually   found   it  necessary  to  change  the  aim,   the   varying 
content,  and  the  method  of  a  course  according  to  the  needs   students? 
of  different  classes  of  students.     In   one  of  our  colleges  i 

science  students  are  required  to  take  two  years  of  Latin. 
The  course  offered  these  young  men  gives  the  ordinary 
drill  in  grammar,  translation,  and  analysis  of  Caesar,  Cicero, 
and  Vergil,  as  well  as  practice  in  prose  composition  in  which 
nondescript  and  disjointed  English  sentences,  grammati- 
cally correct,  are  turned  into  incorrect  Latin.  This  de- 
scription, without  any  changes  whatever,  applies  also  to  the 
course  given  in  the  introductory  years  in  Latin  to  students 
specializing  in  the  arts.  Even  a  superficial  analysis  re- 
veals a  different  set  of  needs  in  the  two  classes  of  students 
which  can  be  served  only  by  a  corresponding  difference 
in  content  and  mode  of  teaching.  A  student  who  takes 
French  or  German  because  he  wants  enough  mastery  of  these 
languages  to  enable  him  to  read  in  foreign  journals  about 
the  progress  of  his  specialty  must  be  given  a  course  which 
appeals  to  the  eye  and  minimizes  the  grammatical  and  con- 
versational phases  of  these  languages. 

There  are  courses  that  are  foundational  and  that  must 
therefore  be  governed  by  an  eclectic  aim.  In  the  first  course 
in  college  physics  it  is  obvious  that  we  must  teach  the 
necessary  facts  of  the  subject  as  well  as  its  method.     These 


54  College  Teaching 

aspects  of  the  work  must  be  emphasized  with  equal  force 
for  all  students;  no  differentiation  need  be  made  for  future 
medical  or  engineering  students  or  for  prospective  teachers 
•  of  the  subject  in  secondary  schools.  Generally  speak- 
ing, initial  courses  in  a  department  are  governed  by  an 
eclectic  aim,  but  in  the  advanced  courses  there  must  be 
constant  adjustment  to  the  needs  of  various  groups.  An 
eclectic  aim  can  be  as  effective  an  instrument  in  enhancing 
the  quality  of  teaching  as  a  single,  clear-cut  aim,  provided 
there  is  a  clear  recognition  of  the  relative  importance 
of  the  ends  set  up,  and  provided  a  definite  plan  is  evolved 
to  attain  them. 

The  aim  or  aims  of  a  subject  or  a  lesson,  once  formu- 
lated, must  always  be  kept  before  the  students  as  well 
as  before  the  teacher.  Every  pupil  must  know  the  ends 
to  be  attained  in  the  course  he  is  taking,  and  as  work 
progresses  he  must  experience  a  growing  realization  that 
the-  class  is  moving  toward  these  ends.  The  subject  matter 
of  the  course,  the  method  of  instruction,  the  assigned  task, 
now  glow  with  interest  which  springs  from  work  clearly 
motivated.  The  average  student  plods  through  his  semes- 
ter from  a  sense  of  duty  or  obedience  rather  than  from 
a  conviction  of  the  worth  of  both  subject  matter  and 
'  method. 
Vmiaeof  jsJq^  Qjjjy  must  the  general  aim  be  indicated  to  the  student, 

fined  aims       but   he   must  also  be  made   acquainted   with   the  specific 
>   aim.     Where  students  have  been  acquainted  with  the  spe- 
cific task  that  must  be  accomplished   in   a  given  period, 
concentration  and  cooperation  with  the  instructor  are  easier; 
the  students  can,  at  stages  in  the  lesson,  anticipate  succeeding 
steps;  their  answers  have  greater  relevancy,  their  thought 
is  more  sequential  and  flows  more  readily  along  the  path 
planned  by  the  instructor.     A  specific  aim  for  each  lesson 
makes  for  economy,  for  it  is  a  standard  of  relevancy  for 
r         both  student  and  teacher.     The  student  whose  answer  or 
observation  is  irrelevant  is  asked  to  recall  the  aim  of  the 
'  lesson   and  to   judge  the   pertinence   of  his  contribution. 
The  instructor  given  to  wandering  far  afield  finds  that  a 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     55 

clearly  fixed  aim  is  an  aid  in  keeping  him  in  the  pre- 
scribed path.  Too  many  college  hours,  especially  in  the 
social  sciences,  find  the  instructor  beginning  with  his  sub- 
ject but  ending  anywhere  in  the  field  of  human  knowledge. 
These  wanderings  are  entertaining  enough,  but  they  dis- 
sipate the  energies  of  the  students  and  produce  a  mental 
flabbiness  already  too  well  developed  in  the  average  college 
student. 

A    second    factor    which    contributes   much   toward    the   Motivation 

in  college         y 

effectiveness  of  college  teaching  is  the  principle  of  moti-  teaching 
vation.  So  long  as  most  of  the  college  course  is  prescribed, 
course  by  course,  students  will  be  found  pursuing  certain 
studies  without  an  intelligent  understanding  of  their  social 
or  mental  worth.  Ask  the  student  "  doing  "  prescribed  logic 
to  explain  the  value  of  the  course.  In  friendly  or  inti- 
mate discussion  with  him,  elicit  his  conception  of  the 
utilitarian  or  disciplinary  worth  of  the  prescribed  Latin 
or  mathematics  in  the  arts  course.  He  sees  no  relation 
between  the  problems  of  life  and  the  daily  lessons  in  many 
of  these  subjects.  He  submits  to  the  teacher's  attempts  to 
graft  this  knowledge  upon  his  intellectual  stock  merely  be- 
cause he  has  learned  that  the  easiest  course  is  to  bend 
to  authority.  Instruction  in  too  many  college  subjects  is  ^ 
based,  not  on  intelligent  and  voluntary  attention,  but  on 
the  discipline  maintained  by  the  institution  or  by  the  in- 
structor. It  is  obvious  that  such  instruction  is  stultifying  ^ 
to  the  teacher  and  can  never  develop  in  the  student  a  liberal 
and  cultured  outlook  upon  life. 

The  principle  of  motivation  in  teaching  seeks  to  justify 
to  the  student  the  experience  that  is  presented  as  part  of 
his  college  course.  It  is  obvious  that  this  motivation  need 
not  always  be  explained  in  terms  of  utilitarian  values.  A 
student  of  college  age  can  be  made  to  realize  the  mental,  the 
cultural,  or  the  inspirational  values  that  justify  the  prescrip- 
tion of  certain  courses.  The  college  instructor  who  tries  to 
motivate  courses  in  the  appreciation  of  music  or  painting 
finds  no  great  difficulty  in  leading  his  students  to  an  enthusi- 
astic  conviction    of   their   inspirational   value.     It   is   well 


College  Teaching 


worth  taking  the  student  into  our  confidence  in  these  mat- 

1  ters  of  aim  and  value.  We  must  become  more  tolerant  of 
the  thoughtful  student  who  makes  honest  inquiry  as  to  the 

i  value  of  any  of  the  presented  courses.  We  must  learn  to 
regard  such  questions  as  signs  of  growing  seriousness  and 
increasing  maturity  and  not  as  signs  of  impertinence.  We 
constantly  ask  ourselves  questions  about  the  round  of  our 
daily  task;  we  seek  to  know  thoroughly  their  uses,  their 
values,  their  meaning  in  our  lives.  Clear  conception  of  use 
or  value  in  teaching  is  as  vital  as  it  is  in  life  —  for  what  is 
teaching  if  not  the  process  of  repeating  life's  experiences? 

-  In  the  principle  of  motivation  lies  the  most  successful 
solution  of  the  problem  of  interest  in  teaching.  We  have 
too  long  persisted  in  the  "  sugarcoating "  conception  of 
interest.     We  have  regarded  it  as  a  process  of  "  making 

^  agreeable."  Interest  has  therefore  been  looked  upon  as  a 
fictitious  element  introduced  into  teaching  merely  to  in- 
veigle the  mind  of  the  student  into  a  consideration  of  what 

^  we  are  offering  it.  Our  modern  psychology  teaches  a  truer 
conception  of  interest:  a  feeling  accompanying  self-expres- 
sion. Interest  has  been  defined  as  a  feeling  of  worth  in  ex- 
perience. Where  this  feeling  of  worth  is  aroused,  the  in- 
dividual  expresses  his  activity  to  attain  the  end  that  he 

+  perceives.  Every  act,  every  effort,  to  attain  this  end  is 
accompanied  by  a  distinctive  feeling  known  as  interest. 
When  a  class  is  quiet  and  gives  itself  to  the  teacher,  it  is 
obedient  and  polite,  but  not  necessarily  interested.  The 
class  that  looks  tolerantly  at  the  stereopticon  views  that  the 
instructor  presents,  or  listens  to  the  reading  of  the  profes- 
sor of  English,  is  amused  but  not  necessarily  interested. 
But  when  the  students  ask  questions  about  the  pictures  or 
ask  the  professor  of  English  for  further  references,  then 
have  we  evidence  of  real  interest.  Interest  is,  therefore,  an 
active  attitude  toward  life's  experience.  Rational  motiva- 
tion is  almost  a  guarantee  of  this  active  attitude  of  interest. 
Intelligent  motivation  in  teaching  has  far-reaching  values 
for  both  student  and  teacher.  It  stirs  interest  and  guar- 
antees attention  and  thus  tends  to  keep  aroused  the  activity 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     57 

of  the  students.  It  establishes  an  end  toward  which  all 
effort  of  teacher  and  student  must  bend.  It  enables  the 
student  to  follow  a  line  of  thought  more  intelligently,  and 
occasionally  to  anticipate  conclusions.  For  the  teacher  it 
serves  as  a  standard,  in  terms  of  which  he  reorganizes  his 
subject  matter,  judges  the  value  of  each  topic,  and  omits 
socially  useless  matter  which  has  too  long  been  retained 
in  the  course  in  the  fond  hope  that  it  will  in  some  way 
develop  the  mind. 

The  instructor  who  strives  to  motivate  the  subject  matter    Beginning   / 
he  teaches  usually  begins  with  that  phase  of  the  subject   of  contact 
which  is  most  intimately  related  to  the  student's  life  and 
environment.     Every  subject  worth  teaching  crosses  the  stu- 
dent's life  at  some  point.     The  contacts  between  pupil  and 
subject    afford    the    most    natural    and    the   most   effective  *. 

starting  points  in  the  teaching  of  any  subject. 

The  subject  matter  in  a  college  course  is  too  frequently 
so  organized  that  it  presents  points  of  discrepancy  be- 
tween itself  and  the  student.  To  the  college  student  life 
is  not  classified  and  systematized  to  a  nicety.  Experiences 
occur  in  more  or  less  accidental  but  natural  sequence. 
Scientific  classification  is  the  product  of  a  mature  mind 
possessing  mastery  of  a  given  portion  of  the  field  of  knowl- 
edge. To  thrust  the  student,  who  is  jyst  finding  his  way 
in  a  new  course,  into  a  thoroughly  scientific  classification 
of  a  subject,  is  to  present  in  the  introduction  what  should 
come  in  the  conclusion. 

Many  a  student  taking  his  introductory  course  in  psy- 
chology begins  with  a  definition  of  the  subject,  its  re- 
lation to  all  social  and  physical  sciences,  and  its  classifi- 
cation. All  these  are  aspects  of  the  subject  which 
the  mind  conversant  with  it  sees  clearly  and  understands 
thoroughly,  but  which  the  inexperienced  student  accepts 
merely  because  the  facts  are  printed  in  his  text-book.  The 
youthful  mind  is  concerned  with  the  present  and  with 
the  immediate  environment.  Too  many  of  our  college 
courses,  in  the  initial  stages,  transport  the  student  into 
the    realm    of    theory    or    into    the    distant    past.     The 


58 


College  Teaching 


point  of 
contact 


Student  cannot  orientate  himself  in  this  new  environment 
and  is  soon  lost  on  the  highways  and  byways  of  classifica- 
tion; to  him  the  subject  becomes  a  study  of  words  rather 
i  than  of  vital  ideas.  Why  must  the  introductory  course  in 
philosophy  begin  with  the  ancient  philosophers,  and  give  the 
major  part  of  the  term  to  the  study  of  dead  philosophers 
and  their  theories  long  since  refuted  and  discarded,  while 
vital  modern  philosophic  thought  is  crowded  into  the  last 
'  few  sessions  of  the  semester? 
of^mMta"'  ^^^  pedagogical  significance  of  beginning  at  the  point 
Begin  at  the  of  contact  can  best  be  understood  and  appreciated  by  illus- 
trations of  actual  teaching  conditions.  Most  initial  courses 
in  economics  begin  by  positing  that  economics  is  the  science 
of  the  consumption,  distribution,  and  production  of  wealth. 
The  student  is  told  that  in  earlier  systems  of  economics 
production  was  studied  as  the  initial  economic  process,  but 
that  the  more  modern  view  makes  consumption  the  starting 
process.  All  this  the  student  takes  on  faith.  He  does  not 
really  see  its  bearings  and  its  implications;  he  is  as  uncon- 
cerned with  the  new  formulation  as  he  is  with  the  old; 
he  feels  at  once  far  removed  from  economics.  The  suc- 
ceeding lessons  study  economic  laws  with  little  reference 
to  the  economic  life  that  the  student  lives.  In  a  later 
chapter  he  learns  a  definition  of  wages,  the  forces  that  de- 
termine wage,  and  the  mode  of  computing  the  share  of  the 
total  produce  that  must  go  to  wages. 

Here  we  have  a  course  that  does  not  begin  at  the  point 
of  contact,  that  presents  the  very  discrepancies  between 
itself  and  the  student  that  were  noted  before.  How  can 
we  overcome  them?  By  proceeding  psychologically.  The 
instructor  refers  to  two  or  three  important  wage  disputes 
in  current  industrial  life;  these  conflicts  are  analyzed; 
the  contending  demands  are  studied,  and  the  forces  con- 
trolling the  adoption  of  a  new  wage  scale  are  noted.  After 
this  study  of  actual  economic  conditions  the  students  are 
led  to  formulate  their  own  definition  of  wages,  and  to  dis- 
cover the  forces  that  determine  wage.  Their  conclusions 
are   of  course   tentative.     The   textbook   or   textbooks   are 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     59 

consulted  in  order  to  verify  the  formulations  and  the  con- 
clusions of  the  class.  Thus  the  course  is  developed  entirely 
through  a  series  of  contacts  with  economic  life.  The  final 
topic  in  the  course  is  the  formulation  of  a  definition  of 
economics.  Now  the  class  sums  up  all  that  it  has  seen 
and  learned  of  economics  during  the  year.  The  cold 
and  empty  definition  now  glows  with  meaning.  Such  a 
course  awakens  an  intelligent  interest  in  economic  life; 
it  develops  a  mode  of  thought  in  social  sciences  and  a  sense 
of  self-reliance;  it  teaches  the  student  that  all  conclusions 
are  tentative  and  constantly  subject  to  verification;  it  fosters 
a  critical  attitude  toward  printed  text. 

The  college  graduate  who  studied  college  mathematics, 
advanced  algebra,  trigonometry,  analytical  geometry,  and 
calculus,  looks  back  with  satisfaction  at  work  completed. 
Each  of  these  subjects  seemed  to  have  little  or  no  relation 
to  the  other;  each  was  kept  in  a  water-tight  compartment. 
He  remembers  few,  if  any,  of  the  formulae,  equations,  and 
symbols.  He  recalls  vividly  his  admiration  of  the  author's 
ingenious  method  of  deriving  equations.  Every  succeeding 
theorem,  formula,  or  equation  was  another  puzzle  in  a 
subject  which  seemed  to  be  composed  of  a  series  of  diffi- 
cult, unrelated,  and  unapplied  mathematical  proofs.  The 
course  ended,  the  mass  of  data  was  soon  obliterated  from 
the  mind's  active  possessions. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  it  all?  What  is  its  relation  to 
life?  There  is  no  doubt  that  much  of  this  mathematics 
has  its  application  to  life's  needs,  and  that  these  successive 
subjects  of  mathematics  are  thoroughly  interdependent. 
But  nothing  in  the  mode  of  instruction  leads  the  student 
to  see  either  the  application  or  the  interrelation  of  all  this 
higher  mathematics.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  give  a 
single  course  called  mathematics  rather  than  these  successive 
subjects?  Would  it  not  be  more  enlightening  if  each  new 
mathematical  principle  were  taught  through  a  situation  in 
building,  engineering,  or  mechanics  so  that  the  student 
would  at  all  times  see  the  intimate  relation  between  mathe- 
matical  law  and  physical  forces?     Would  not  the  disci- 


60 


College  Teaching 


Beginning 
at  the  point 
of  contact 
relates  the 
snbject  to 
the  life  of 
the  student 


plinary  values  of  mathematics  be  intensified  for  the  student 
by  teaching  it  in  a  way  that  presents  a  quantitative  inter- 
pretation of  the  daily  phenomena  in  his  experience? 

Teachers  of  philosophy  and  psychology  too  often  fall 
into  a  formalism  that  robs  their  subject  of  all  its  vital- 
izing influences.  Many  a  student  enters  his  course  in 
logic  with  high  hopes.  At  last  he  is  to  learn  the  laws  of 
thought  which  will  render  him  keen  in  detection  of  fallacies 
and  potent  in  the  presentation  of  argument.  How  bitter 
is  his  disappointment  when  he  finds  his  course  dissipated 
in  definitions  and  classifications.  His  logic  gives  itself 
to  the  discussion  of  such  patent  fallacies  as,  "  A  good  teacher 
knows  his  subject;  Williams  knows  his  subject,  therefore 
he  is  a  good  teacher."  Day  after  day  he  proves  the  error 
in  every  form  of  stupidity  or  the  truth  of  what  is  axio- 
matic. He  tires  of  "  Gold  is  a  metal  "  and  "  Socrates  is 
mortal."  Few  courses  in  logic  have  the  courage  to  break 
away  from  the  traditional  formalism  and  to  begin  each  new 
principle  or  fundamental  concept  of  logic  by  analyzing  edi- 
torials, arguments,  contentions  in  newspapers,  magazines, 
campaign  literature,  or  the  actual  textbooks.  Few  students 
complete  their  course  in  logic  with  a  keener  insight  into 
thought  and  with  a  maturer  or  more  aggressive  mental  atti- 
tude. 

It  was  pointed  out  in  a  previous  illustration  that  the  col- 
lege student  "  taking  philosophy  "  is  seldom  made  to  feel 
that  the  subject  he  studies  is  related  to  the  problems  that 
arise  in  his  own  life.  Too  frequently  introductory  courses 
in  philosophy  are  historical  and  extensive  in  scope,  striv- 
ing to  develop  mastery  of  facts  rather  than  to  give  new 
viewpoints.  The  student  learns  names  of  philosophers,  and 
attempts  to  memorize  the  philosophic  system  developed  by 
each  thinker.  Such  a  course  imposes  a  heavy  burden  on  re- 
tentive power,  for  no  little  effort  is  required  to  remember 
the  distinctive  philosophical  systems  advocated  by  the  re- 
spective writers.  To  the  students  these  philosophers  repre- 
sent a  group   of  peculiar   people  differing  one  from  the 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     61 

other  in  their  degrees  of  "  queerness."  One  system  is  as  far 
removed  as  another  from  the  life  that  the  student  ex- 
periences; no  system  helps  him  to  find  himself.  An  intro- 
ductory course  in  philosophy  should  begin  with  the  prob- 
lems of  philosophy;  it  should  have  its  origin  in  the  reflective 
and  speculative  problems  of  the  student  himself.  As  the 
course  progresses,  the  student  should  feel  a  growing  sense  of 
power,  an  increasing  ability  to  formulate  more  clearly,  to 
himself  at  least,  the  questions  of  religion  and  ethics  that 
arise  in  the  life  of  a  normal  thinking  person.  So,  too, 
courses  in  ethics  and  psychology  lose  the  vital  touch  imless 
they  begin  in  the  life  of  the  student  and  apply  their  lessons 
to  his  social  and  intellectual  environment. 

It  must  be  pointed  out,  however,  that  the  social  sciences 
lend  themselves  more  readily  to  this  intimate  treatment 
than  do  languages,  or  the  physical  sciences,  but  at  all  points 
possible  in  the  study  of  a  subject,  the  experience  of  the 
student  must  be  introduced  as  a  means  of  giving  the  subject 
real  meaning.  In  teaching  composition  and  rhetoric  illus- 
trations of  the  canons  of  good  form  need  not  be  restricted 
to  the  past.  Current  magazines  and  newspapers  are  not 
devoid  of  effective  illustrations.  When  the  older  literary 
forms  are  used  exclusively  as  models  of  language,  the 
student  ends  his  course  with  the  erroneous  notion  that  con- 
temporary writing  is  cheap  and  sensational  and  devoid  of 
artistic  craftsmanship. 

Courses  in  physics  and  chemistry  frequently  devote  them- 
selves to  a  development  of  principles  rather  than  to  the 
applications  of  the  studies  to  every  sphere  of  life.  Intro- 
ductory college  courses  in  zoology  spend  the  year  in  the 
minutiae  of  the  lowest  animal  forms  and  rarely  reach  any 
animal  higher  in  the  scale  than  the  crayfish.  We  still  find 
students  in  botany  learning  the  various  margins  of  leaves, 
the  system  of  venation,  the  scientific  classifications,  but  at 
the  end  of  the  course,  unable  to  recognize  ordinary  leaves 
and  just  as  blind  to  nature  as  they  were  before.  Zoology 
and  botany  do  not  always  —  as  they  should  —  give  a  new 


62  College  Teaching 

view  of  life,  a  new  attitude  towards  living  phenomena,  a  new 
contact  with  nature. 

Careful  inquiry  among  college  students  will  reveal  an 
amazing  ignorance  of  common  chemical  and  physical 
phenomena  after  full-year  courses  in  chemistry  and  physics. 
We  find  a  student  giving  two  semesters  to  work  in  each  of 
'  these  subjects.  He  spends  most  of  his  time  learning  the 
chemical  elements,  their  characteristics  and  the  modes  of 
testing  for  them.  The  major  portion  of  the  time  is  spent 
in  the  laboratory,  where  he  must  discover  for  himself  the 
elementary  practices  of  the  subject  and  test  the  validity 
of  well-established  truths.  At  the  end  of  his  second  semes- 
ter he  has  not  developed  sufficient  laboratory  technique  for 
significant  work  in  chemistry;  he  is  ignorant  of  the  chem- 
ical explanation  of  the  most  common  phenomena  in  life. 
Pedagogical  There  is  much  to  be  said  for  the  position  taken  by  the 
organization  "  older  teachers,"  who  may  not  possess  the  scholarship  of  the 
"  younger  investigators  "  but  who  argue  for  a  general  course 
in  which  laboratory  work  shall  be  reduced,  technique  mini- 
mized, and  attention  focused  on  giving  an  extensive  view  of 
chemical  forces.  The  simple  chemical  facts  in  digestion, 
metabolism,  industry,  war,  medicine,  etc.,  would  be  pre- 
sented in  such  a  way  as  to  make  life  a  more  intelligent 
process  and  to  give  an  insight  into  the  method  of  science. 
In  the  courses  that  follow  the  introductory  one,  there  would 
be  a  marked  change  in  aim;  the  student  would  be  taught  the 
laboratory  technique  and  would  be  given  a  more  intensive 
study  of  the  important  aspects  of  chemistry.  Similar 
changes  in  the  introductory  courses  in  physics  are  urged 
by  these  same  teachers. 

Beginning  at  the  point  of  contact  may  frequently  inter- 
fere with  the  logical  arrangement  of  the  course  of  study; 
it  may  wrench  many  a  topic  out  of  its  accustomed  place  in 
the  textbook;  it  will  demand  that  the  applications,  which 
come  last  in  most  logically  arranged  courses,  be  given 
first  and  that  definitions  and  principles  which  come  first 
be  given  last.  This  logical  arrangement,  it  was  pointed 
out,  is  usually  the  expression  of  the  matured  mind  that  is 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     63 

thoroughly  conversant  with  every  aspect  of  a  subject;  it  may 

mean  little,  however,  to  the  beginner  —  so   little  that  he 

does  not  even  slightly  appreciate  its  significance.     The  loss 

in  logical  sequence  entailed  by  beginning  at  the  point  of 

contact  is  often  more  than  compensated  for  by  the  advan-  ^ 

tages  which  are  derived  from  a  psychological  presentation.   Proper 

A  11  '11  1-  •  i'i     organization 

A  well-organized  lesson  possesses  teaching  merits  which  v  ^s  a  factor  in 

may  counteract  almost  all  the  usual  weaknesses  found  in   effective 
1  •  /-I  •       •  1  1  r    teaching 

poor  teaching.     Uood  organization  determines  clearness  ot 

comprehension,  ease  of  retention,  and  ability  of  recall;  it 
makes  for  economy  of  time  and  mental  energy;  it  simpli- 
fies the  processes  of  mental  assimilation;  it  teaches  the 
student,  indirectly  but  effectively,  to  think  sequentially. 
We  have  all  suffered  too  keenly,  as  auditors  and  readers, 
the  inconveniences  of  poor  organization,  not  to  realize  the 
worth  of  proper  organization  of  knowledge  in  teaching.  ^ 

Organization  of  knowledge  has  become  a  pedagogical 
slogan,  but' its  increase  in  popularity  has  not  been  accom- 
panied by  increased  clearness  of  comprehension  of  its 
meaning.  What,  then,  is  meant  by  proper  organization? 
It  must  ever  be  borne  in  mind  that  proper  organization 
is  a  relative  condition,  the  limits  of  which  are  determined 
by  the  capacities  of  the  students  and  the  nature  of  the  sub- 
ject matter.  What  is  effective  organization  of  facts  in  ele- 
mentary history  may  be  very  ineffective  organization  for 
students  of  high  school  or  college  grade.  Making  due 
allowance  for  relative  conditions,  good  organization  may  be 
said  to  consist  of  five  essential  characteristics. 

Logical  sequence  is  the  first  of  these.  It  is  apparent  that 
the  more  rational  the  sequence  of  facts,  the  more  effective 
is  the  organization  of  knowledge.  Data  organized  on  a 
basis  of  cause  and  effect,  similarity,  contrast  or  any  other 
logical  relationship  will  help  to  secure  the  teaching  advan- 
tages we  have  mentioned.  A  search  for  this  simple  prin- 
ciple in  most  textbooks  on  American  or  English  history  or 
literature  reveals  its  complete  absence.  A  detailed  mass 
of  historical  information  grouped  into  administrations  or 
reigns  is  merely  a  mechanical  organization  in  which  time. 


64 


College  Teaching 


Meaning  of 
organization 
of  subject 
matter 


the  accidental  element,  and  not  the  development  of  social 
movements,  the  logic  of  human  history,  is  the  determining 
factor.  In  too  many  courses  in  literature  the  student  learns 
names  of  writers,  biographical  data,  and  literary  character- 
istics of  the  masters,  but  fails  to  see  the  development  of  the 
movement  of  which  the  writer  was  a  part.  Events  of  his- 
tory placed  in  their  social  movements,  writers  in  literature 
placed  in  the  school  in  which  they  belong,  give  the  student 
the  logical  ties  which  bind  the  knowledge  to  him.  So,  too, 
one  often  analyzes  the  sequence  of  chapters  in  an  advanced 
algebra  or  a  trigonometry  and  fails  to  discover  the  govern- 
ing rationale.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the 
nature  of  the  subject  will  often  reduce  the  logical  element  in 
its  organization.  Instances  in  language  teaching  may  be 
cited  as  illustrations  of  teaching  situations  where  a  mechani- 
cal organization  is  often  the  only  one  possible  because  of 
the  arbitrary  character  of  the  subject  matter. 

Relativity  of  importance  is  the  second  factor  of  good 
organization.  A  cursory  study  of  a  well-organized  chapter 
or  merely  passing  attention  to  a  well-organized  lecture 
reveals  at  once  a  distinct  difference  in  the  emphasis  on  the 
various  parts  or  elements  of  the  subject.  The  proportional 
allotment  of  time  or  space,  the  number  of  illustrations,  the 
number  of  questions  asked  on  a  given  point,  the  force  of 
language  —  these  are  all  means  of  bringing  out  the  rela- 
tive importance  of  constituent  topics  or  principles.  In 
retrospect,  a  well-organized  lesson  presents  an  appearance 
similar  to  a  contour  map;  each  part  stands  out  in  distinc- 
tive color  according  to  its  significance. 

It  is  frequently  argued  by  teachers  that  students  of 
college  age  should  be  required  to  distinguish  the  relativ- 
ity of  importance  of  the  parts  of  a  lesson  or  the  topics 
in  a  subject;  that  the  instructor  who  points  out  the  chang- 
ing importance  of  each  succeeding  part  of  a  lesson  is  en- 
ervating the  student  by  doing  for  him  what  he  ought  to 
do  for  himself.  This  is  true  in  part,  but  it  must  be  realized 
that  the  instructor  who  through  questions  and  directed  dis- 
cussions leads  students  to  formulate  for  themselves  the  rela- 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     65 

live  importance  of  data  is  not  only  carrying  out  the  sugges- 
tion made  in  the  preceding  paragraph  but  is  also  develop- 
ing in  his  students  a  power  they  too  frequently  lack.  Those 
who  have  studied  the  notes  that  students  take  in  their  classes 
have  seen  how  frequently  facts  are  torn  from  their  moor- 
ings; how  wrong  principles  are  derived  from  illustrations; 
how  a  catch-phrase  becomes  a  basic  principle;  how  simple 
truths  and  axioms  are  distorted  in  the  frenzy  of  note  taking. 
Through  questions  if  possible,  through  emphasis  on  illus- 
trations and  explanations,  where  no  other  means  is  available, 
students  must  be  made  to  see  that  all  facts  of  a  subject  are 
not  of  the  same  hue,  that  some  are  faint  of  tint,  others  in 
shadow,  and  still  others  in  high  colors.  Without  this  rela- 
tivity of  importance,  facts  are  grouped;  with  it,  they  are 
intelligently  organized. 

An  underlying  tendency  can  be  discerned  in  well-organ- 
ized knowledge.  Not  only  are  facts  arranged  in  logical 
sequence  and  emphasized  according  to  importance,  but 
there  is  in  addition  a  central  principle  or  an  underlying 
purpose  giving  unifying  force  to  them  all.  We  can  illus- 
trate the  need  of  this  third  characteristic  of  good  organi- 
zation by  referring  to  a  college  course  in  American  history 
which  gives  much  time  to  the  period  from  1815  to  1860. 
The  events  of  these  forty-five  years  are  not  taught  in 
administrations  but  are  summed  up  in  six  national  tenden- 
cies; viz.,  the  questions  of  state  sovereignty,  slavery,  terri- 
torial acquisition,  tariff,  industrial  and  transportational 
progress,  and  foreign  policy.  Each  of  these  movements  is 
treated  as  intensively  as  time  permits.  At  the  end  of  the 
study  of  the  entire  period,  the  student  is  left  with  these 
six  topics  but  without  a  unifying  principle;  to  him,  these  are 
six  unrelated  currents  of  events.  In  each  of  these  prob- 
lems the  North  and  the  South  displayed  distinctive  atti- 
tudes, acted  from  distinctive  motives,  expressed  distinctive 
needs  and  preferences,  but  these  were  never  brought  out  iuo-oiiT 

either  through  well-formulated  questions  or  through  expla- 
nation. As  a  result,  the  class  never  realize  fully  that  those 
years,  1815-1860,  marked  the  period  of  growing  sectional 


tsar 


66  College  Teaching 

differences,  misunderstandings,  and  animosities.  Had  this 
underlying  tendency  been  brought  out  clearly  at  various 
points  in  the  course,  the  students  would  have  carried  away 
a  permanent  impression  of  what  is  most  vital  in  this  period 
of  American  development. 

Gradation  of  subject  matter  is  another  characteristic  of 
good  organization.  Careful  gradation  is  not  so  vital  in 
subjects  of  social  content  as  it  is  in  mathematics,  foreign 
languages,  and  exact  sciences.  The  most  important  single 
factor  in  removing  difficulties  that  beset  a  student  is  grada- 
tion. Teaching  problems  often  arise  because  the  instructor 
or  the  textbook  presents  more  than  one  difficulty  at  a  time. 
Teachers  who  lack  intellectual  sympathy  or  who  are  so  lost 
in  the  advanced  stages  of  their  specialty  that  they  can  no 
longer  image  the  successive  steps  of  difficulty,  one  by  one, 
that  present  themselves  to  a  mind  inexperienced  in  their' 
respective  fields,  are  frequently  guilty  of  this  pedagogical 
error.  Malgradation  of  subject  matter  is  the  direct  cause 
of  serious  loss  of  time  and  energy  and  of  needless  dis- 
couragement not  only  to  students  but  to  instructors  as  well. 

Ability  of  the  student  to  summarize  easily  "is  a  test  of 
good  organization.  At  the  end  of  a  loosely  organized  chap- 
ter or  lesson  the  student  experiences  no  little  difficulty  in 
setting  forth  the  underlying  principles  and  their  supporting 
data.  It  does  not  help  much  to  have  the  textbook  or  the 
instructor  state  the  summary  either  at  the  end  of  the  lesson 
in  question  or  at  the  beginning  of  the  succeeding  one.  The 
summary  of  a  lesson,  given  by  the  class,  is  a  test  of  the 
effectiveness  of  instruction.  Summaries  given  by  teachers 
or  textbooks  have  little  or  no  pedagogical  justification. 
Only  in  cases  where  the  summary  introduces  a  new  point 
of  yiew  or  unifying  principles,  or  when  it  sets  forth  basic 
principles  in  particularly  forceful  language  —  only  then  is 
the  statement  by  teacher  or  textbook  justifiable. 
Thorough-  Teachers  are  advised  to  be  thorough  in  their  instruction. 

They  in  turn  urge  their  students  to  strive  for  thoroughness 
in  study.  We  praise  or  impugn  the  scholarship  of  our  col- 
leagues because  it  possesses  or  lacks  thoroughness.     Here 


nesB 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     67 


we  have  a  quality  of  knowledge  universally  extolled.  But 
what  is  meant  by  thoroughness?  How  can  teachers  or 
students  know  that  they  are  attaining  that  degree  of  com- 
prehension known  as  thoroughness?  We  are  told  that  thor- 
oughness is  a  relative  condition,  always  changing  with 
accompanying  circumstances.  Even  an  unattainable  ideal 
can  be  defined, —  why  not  thoroughness?  We  must,  there- 
fore, attempt  to  determine  the  meaning  of  thoroughness  as 
used  in  teaching  and  study. 

It  may  be  helpful  to  formulate  the  common  or  lay  inter- 
pretation of  thoroughness.  The  term  "  thoroughness  "  is 
erroneously  used  in  a  quantitative  sense  to  describe  scholastic 
attainment.  We  are  told  of  a  colleague's  thoroughness 
in  history;  he  knows  all  names,  dates,  places,  facts  in  the 
development  of  mankind;  his  knowledge  of  his  specialty 
is  encyclopedic;  "  there  is  no  need  of  looking  things  up  when 
he  is  around."  A  professor  of  English  literature  boasted 
of  the  thoroughness  with  which  he  teaches  Hamlet:  "  Every 
word  of  value  and  every  change  in  the  form  of  versification 
are  marked;  every  allusion  is  taken  up,  every  peculiar  gram- 
matical construction  is  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  class." 
Here  we  have  illustrations  of  an  erroneous  conception  of 
thoroughness  which  gives  it  an  extensive  meaning  and  re- 
gards it  as  the  accumulation  of  a  mass  of  data. 

Yet  the  master  of  chronological  detail  in  history  may  have 
no  historical  imagination,  no  historical  perspective,  no  his- 
torical judgment.  He  may  possess  the  facts,  but  a  period 
in  history  still  remains  for  him  a  stretch  of  time  limited  by 
two  dates,  rather  than  a  succession  of  years  in  which  all 
mankind  seems  to  be  moving  in  the  same  direction,  possessed 
of  the  same  viewpoints,  the  same  hopes  and  aspirations. 
The  professor  of  English  literature  does  not  see  that  in 
teaching  Hamlet  he  forsook  his  specialty,  literature,  for 
philology  and  mythology;  that  he  turned  his  back  on  art 
and  took  up  language  structure.  Thoroughness  is  not  com- 
pleteness, because  the  possession  of  the  details  of  a  subject 
does  not  necessarily  bring  with  it  a  true  comprehension  of 
it.     Add  all  the  details,  and  the  sum  total  is  nothing  more 


Negative  In- 
terpretation 
of  thorough- 
ness 


68 


College  Teaching 


Positive  in- 
terpretation 
of  thorough- 
ness 


than  the  group  of  details.  Thoroughness  is  a  degree  of  com- 
prehension resulting  from  the  acquisition  of  new  points  of 
view.  The  teacher  of  history  who  sees  underlying  forces 
in  the  facts  of  the  past,  who  understands  that  true  inwardness 
of  any  movement  which  shows  him  its  relation  to  all  phases 
of  life,  but  who  nevertheless  may  not  have  ready  command 
of  all  the  specific  details,  is  more  thorough  in  his  scholar- 
ship. He  has  the  things  that  count;  the  facts  that  are  for- 
gotten can  easily  be  found.  The  class  that  studies  the 
dramatic  structure  of  Hamlet,  that  sees  Shakespeare's  power 
of  character  portrayal,  that  takes  up  only  such  grammatical 
and  language  points  as  give  clearer  comprehension  or  lead 
to  greater  appreciation  of  diction,  is  thorough  although 
it  does  not  possess  all  the  facts.  It  is  thorough  because  what 
is  significant  and  dynamic  in  Hamlet  is  made  focal.  The 
postgraduate  student  assiduously  searching  for  data  for  his 
doctorate  thesis  is  often  guided  by  the  erroneous  conception 
of  thoroughness;  he  wants  facts  that  have  never  seen  the 
light.  The  more  he  gets  of  these,  the  nearer  he  approaches 
his  goal.  He  avoids  conclusions;  he  is  counseled  by  his  pro- 
fessors against  giving  too  much  of  his  book  to  the  expression 
of  his  views.  Analyze  the  chapters  of  a  doctorate  thesis 
and  note  the  number  of  pages  given  to  facts  and  those  to 
conclusions  and  interpretations.  The  proportion  is  aston- 
ishing. The  student's  power  to  find  facts  is  clearly  shown ; 
his  power  to  use  facts  is  not  revealed  by  his  thesis.  The 
richer  the  thesis  is  in  detail,  in  references,  in  allusions  to 
dusty  tomes  and  original  sources,  the  more  thorough  is  it  fre- 
quently considered  by  the  faculty.  We  have  failed  to  realize 
that  this  excessive  zeal  in  gathering  and  collating  a  large  num- 
ber of  not  commonly  known  facts  may  make  the  thesis  more 
cumbersome,  more  complete,  but  not  necessarily  more  thor- 
ough. However,  the  plea  for  a  new  standard  in  judging  doc- 
torate theses  is  meeting  with  gratifying  encouragement. 

What,  then,  are  the  teaching  practices  that  make  for 
greater  thoroughness,  that  increase  the  qualitative  and  inten- 
sive character  of  knowledge?  We  shall  discuss  some  of 
these  in  the  succeeding  paragraphs. 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     69 

The  acquisition  of  new  points  of  view  makes  for  in-  How  can 
creased  thoroughness  of  comprehension.  The  class  that  ness  be 
understands  the  causes  of  the  American  Revolution  from  the  produced? 
American  point  of  view  knows  of  the  navigation  laws,  the 
quartering  of  soldiers  in  American  homes,  the  Stamp  Act, 
the  Boston  Massacre, —  the  usual  provocations  that  strained 
patience  to  the  breaking  point.  The  college  teacher  of 
American  history  who  spesnds  time  on  the  riots  in  New  York 
in  which  a  greater  number  of  colonists  was  killed  than  in 
Boston,  who  teaches  in  detail  the  various  acts  forbidding  the 
manufacture  of  hats  and  of  iron  ware,  or  the  protests  against 
English  practices  in  the  colonies  made  by  British  merchants, 
etc.,  is  adding  more  facts,  but  he  may  only  be  intensifying 
the  erroneous  conclusion  that  the  students  have  formed  in 
earlier  and  less  complete  courses.  The  topic,  "  Causes  of 
the  American  Revolution,"  grows  in  thoroughness,  not 
through  the  addition  of  these  facts  but  through  the  presen- 
tation of  new  interpretations  of  the  practices  of  the  English. 
When  we  explain  that  the  English  believed  in  virtual  and 
not  actual  representation,  the  students  see  a  new  mean- 
ing in  "  taxation  without  representation."  When  the 
students  learn  that  the  English  government  decided  on  a 
new  economic  and  industrial  policy  which  planned  to  have 
the  mother  country  specialize  in  manufacture  and  trans- 
portation and  the  colonies  in  production  of  raw  materials, 
the  students  see  reason,  though  not  necessarily  justice,  in 
the  acts  prohibiting  Americans  from  various  forms  of  manu- 
facture and  transportational  activities.  These  new  facts 
modify  in  the  minds  of  students  the  point  of  view  so  often 
given  in  elementary  courses,  that  the  War  for  Independence 
was  caused  by  sheer  British  meanness  and  injustice,  by 
her  policy  of  reckless  repression. 

It  is  not  always  possible  to  give  new  points  of  view  to  all 
knowledge  in  all  subjects.  There  are  cases  in  which  there 
is  only  one  point  of  view  or  where  students  may  not  be 
ready  for  a  new  interpretation  because  of  their  limited 
mastery  of  a  new  field  of  knowledge.  Under  these  condi- 
tions an  added  point  of  view  is  a  source  of  confusion  rather 


70  College  Teaching 

than  an  aid  to  clearer  comprehension.  Some  subjects,  like 
the  social  sciences,  naturally  allow  for  richer  interpretations. 
Others,  like  the  languages  and  the  physical  sciences,  pre- 
sent only  very  limited  opportunities;  in  the  biological 
sciences  the  possibilities,  though  not  as  rich  as  in  the  social 
sciences,  are  numerous  and  productive  of  good  results. 

Comparison  is  a  second  means  of  producing  thoroughness 
of  comprehension.  Good  teaching  abounds  in  comparisons 
which  are  introduced  at  the  end  of  every  important  topic 
rather  tlian  reserved  for  examination  questions.  Compari- 
sons used  liberally  at  every  logical  pause  in  the  develop- 
ment of  a  subject  always  give  an  added  viewpoint,  review 
early  subject  matter  incidentally,  stir  thought,  and  make 
for  better  organization.  How  much  more  clearly  are  the 
causes  of  the  War  of  1812  understood  after  they  are  com- 
pared with  those  that  brought  on  the  Revolutionary  War! 
How  much  more  definite  are  the  causes  of  the  American 
Revolution  when  compared  with  those  that  brought  on  the 
French  Revolution!  A  writer,  a  school,  or  a  movement  in 
English  literature  may  be  understood  when  studied  by  itself; 
but  how  is  comprehension  deepened  when  each  is  compared 
with  another  writer  or  school  or  movement!  Comparison  of 
perception  and  conception  or  appreciation  and  association  in 
psychology,  makes  each  activity  stand  out  clearer  in  the  mind 
of  the  student.  Compare  the  laws  of  rent,  wage,  profit,  and 
interest  in  economics,  and  not  only  each  is  better  under- 
stood but  the  basic  laws  of  distribution  are  readily  derived 
by  the  student.  Similarly,  comparisons  in  mathematics, 
physics,  chemistry,  and  the  entire  range  of  collegiate  sub- 
jects give  increased  comprehension,  useful  though  inci- 
dental reviews,  and  greater  unification  of  knowledge,  as 
well  as  added  points  of  view. 

Correlation  as  a  means  of  producing  thoroughness  is 
closely  allied  to  comparison.  Correlation  relates  kindred 
topics  of  different  subjects,  while  comparison  points  out 
relations  in  the  same  subject.  The  instructor  who  corre- 
lates the  history  of  education  with  the  political  and  eco- 
nomic history  that  the  student  learned  in  another  course  is 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     71 

unifying  related  experience,  reducing  the  field  of  knowledge, 
introducing  logical  organization,  and  adding  new  interpre- 
tations to  facts  already  acquired.  Similarly,  teaching  must 
be  enriched  by  correlating  physics  and  mathematics,  chem- 
istry and  physics,  literature  and  music,  history  of  literature 
and  general  history,  until  instruction  has  taken  advantage 
of  every  vital  relation  among  subjects.  With  the  growth 
of  specialized  subjects  there  is  an  unfortunate  tendency 
toward  isolation  until  the  untrained  mind  looks  upon  the 
curriculum  as  a  series  of  unrelated  experiences,  each  rival- 
ing the  other  in  its  claim  to  importance. 

The  advantage  of  correlation  will  remain  lost  in  college 
teaching  as  long  as  each  instructor  regards  himself  as  a 
specialized  investigator  concerned  with  teaching  his  subject 
rather  than  his  students.  How  many  college  teachers  know 
what  subjects  their  students  have  already  taken,  or  knowing 
the  names  of  these  subjects,  have  a  general  knowledge  of 
their  content?  The  college  professor  of  the  preceding  gen- 
eration was  a  cultured  gentleman  whose  general  scholarship 
transcended  the  limits  of  his  specialty.  He  understood  and 
knew  the  curriculum  as  a  whole.  Because  of  changes  in 
every  phase  of  our  civilization,  his  successor  has  a  deeper  but 
a  narrower  knowledge.  He  knows  little  of  the  work  of  his 
students  outside  of  his  own  subject.  He  does  not  relate  and 
correlate  the  ever  growing  field  of  knowledge;  he  merely 
adds  —  by  the  introduction  of  his  own  mass  of  facts  —  to 
the  isolation  which  characterizes  the  parts  of  college  cur- 
ricula. This  tendency  must  be  counteracted,  not  by  inter- 
fering with  the  scholastic  interests  of  any  instructor,  but  by 
occasional  conferences  of  instructors  of  allied  subjects  in 
order  to  agree  on  common  meeting  grounds,  on  points  of 
correlation,  on  useful  repetitions,  and  on  the  elimination  of 
needless  duplications.  Such  pedagogical  conferences  are 
rare  because  college  teachers  are  not  alive  to  the  need  of 
reform  in  methods  of  college  teaching. 

Thoroughness  results  from  increase  in  the  number  of  ap- 
plications of  knowledge.  The  introduction  of  the  functional 
view  into  teaching  brings  with  it  a  realization  of  the  vital 


72 


College  Teaching 


Teaching  as 
a  process  of 
arousing 
self-activity 


needs  of  increased  ways  of  applying  the  experience  we  pre- 
sent to  students.  As  the  laws  of  physics,  mathematics,  bioK 
ogy,  composition,  economics,  etc.,  are  applied  to  a  number 
of  specific  instances,  the  generalization  grows  in  meaning 
and  in  force.  Specific  cases  vary,  and,  varying,  give  new 
color  and  new  meaning  to  the  laws  that  are  applied  to  ex- 
plain them.  How  much  a  law  in  chemistry  means  after 
it  is  applied  to  specific  instances  in  industry,  human 
and  animal  physiology,  plant  life,  or  engineering!  The 
equation  learned  in  descriptive  geometry  may  be  under- 
stood, but  it  never  means  so  much  as  when  it  is  applied  to 
specific  problems  in  engineering.  Applications  give  added 
insight  into  knowledge  and  therefore  make  for  greater 
thoroughness  of  comprehension. 

Locke's  Blank  Paper  Theory,  enunciated  centuries  ago, 
has  been  repeatedly  and  triumphantly  refuted  even  by  tyros 
in  psychology,  but  in  educational  practices  it  continues  to 
hold  sway.  College  teaching  too  frequently  proceeds  on  the 
assumption  that  the  mind  is  an  aching  void  anxiously  await- 
ing the  generous  contributions  of  knowledge  to  be  made  by 
the  teacher.  College  examinations  usually  test  for  multi- 
plicity of  facts  acquired,  rather  than  for  power  developed. 
College  teaching  usually  does  not  perceive  that  the  mind  is 
a  reacting  machine  containing  a  vast  amount  of  pent-up 
potential  energy  which  is  ready  to  react  upon  any  presen- 
tation; that  development  takes  place  only  as  this  self- 
activity  expresses  itself;  that  education  is  evolutionary  rather 
than  involutionary.  Teaching  is,  therefore,  a  process  of 
arousing,  sustaining,  and  directing  the  self-activity  of  pupils. 
The  more  persistently  and  successfully  this  activity  is 
aroused,  the  more  systematically  it  is  directed  to  intelligent 
ends,  the  more  skillful  is  the  teaching.  Teachers  do  not 
impart  knowledge,  for  that  is  impossible;  they  occasion 
knowledge.  Only  as  the  teacher  succeeds  through  ques- 
tions, directions,  diagrams,  and  all  known  devices,  in  arous- 
ing the  self -activity  of  the  student,  is  he  producing  the 
conditions  under  which  knowledge  is  acquired  by  the 
pupil. 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     73 

The   methods   commonly   used    in   college   teaching   are   Evaluation 

.   II  of  common 

as  tollOWS:  methods  of 

teaching 

1.  Lecture  method,  with  or  without  quiz  sections. 

2.  Development  method,  with  or  without  textbook. 

3.  Combination  of  lecture  and  development  method. 

4.  Reference  readings  and  the  presentation  of  papers  by 
students. 

5.  Laboratory  work  by  students,  together  with   lectures 
and  quiz  sections. 

Teachers  have  long  debated  the  relative  merits  of  these 
methods  or  combinations  of  them.  They  fail  to  realize  that 
each  method  is  correct,  depending  upon  the  aim  to  be  accom- 
plished and  the  governing  circumstances.  No  method  has 
a  monopoly  of  pedagogical  wisdom;  no  method,  used 
exclusively,  is  free  from  inherent  weakness.  A  teaching 
method  must  be  judged  by  its  ability  to  arouse  and  sustain 
self-activity  and  to  attain  the  aim  set  for  a  specific  lesson. 
With  this  standard  for  judging  a  method  of  teaching,"  we 
must  stop  to  sum  up  the  relative  worth  of  common  methods 
of  college  teaching. 

The  lecture  method  has  been  the  target  for  much  criti-  Lecture 
cism  for  many  centuries.  Socrates  inveighed  against  its  evaluated 
use  by  the  sophists,  and  educators  since  have  repeated  the 
attack.  The  reasons  are  legion:  (a)  The  lecture  method 
tends  to  discourage  the  pupil's  activity.  The  student  feels 
no  responsibility  during  the  lecture;  he  listens  leisurely, 
and  makes  notes  of  the  instructor's  contribution.  The 
student's  judgment  is  not  called  into  play;  he  learns  to  take 
knowledge  on  the  authority  of  the  instructor.  The  sense 
of  comfort  and  security  experienced  in  a  lecture  hour  is 
fatal  even  to  aggressive  and  assertive  minds.  Sooner  or 
later  the  students  succumb  to  the  inertia  developed  by  the 
lecture  system. 

(6)  A  second  limitation  of  an  exclusive  lecture  method  is 
its  inability  to  make  permanent  impressions.  Many  a 
student,  entering  the  lecture  hall,  has  completely  forgotten 


74  College  Teaching 

even  the  theme  of  the  last  lecture.  Knowledge  is  retained 
only  when  it  is  obtained  by  the  expression  of  self-activity. 
To  offset  this  weakness  notes  must  be  taken,  but  these  prove 
to  be  the  bane  of  the  lecture  method.  Some  students,  in 
their  efforts  to  record  a  point  just  concluded,  lose  not  only 
the  thought  of  what  they  are  trying  to  write  but  also  the 
new  thought  which  the  instructor  is  now  explaining;  they 
drop  both  ideas  from  their  notes  and  wait  for  the  next  step 
in  the  development  of  the  lecture.  This  accounts  for  the 
many  gaps  in  the  notes  kept  by  students.  Some  instruc- 
tors, dismayed  by  the  amount  of  knowledge  lost  by  students, 
resort  to  dictation  devices.  Others,  realizing  the  pedagog- 
ical weakness  of  such  teaching,  distribute  mimeographed 
outlines  of  carefully  prepared  summaries  of  the  lectures. 
Now  the  student  is  relieved  of  the  tedium  of  note  taking, 
but  the  temptation  to  let  his  mind  wander  afield  is  intensi- 
fied. An  outline,  scanty  of  detail,  but  so  devised  as  to  keep 
the  organization  and  sequence  of  subject  matter  clear  in  the 
minds  of  students,  is,  of  course,  helpful.  But  detailed  out- 
lines distributed  among  the  students  discourage  even  at- 
tentive listening. 

(c)  In  teaching  by  lectures  only  there  is  no  contact 
between  student  and  teacher.  The  student  does  not  recite; 
he  does  not  reveal  his  type  of  mind,  his  mode  of  study, 
his  grasp  of  subject  matter.  He  is  merely  a  passive 
recipient.  To  this  third  weakness  of  the  lecture  method 
we  may  add  a  fourth:  (d)  it  tends  to  emphasize  quantity 
rather  than  method.  The  student  is  confronted  with  a 
great  mass  of  facts,  but  he  does  not  acquire  a  mode  of 
thought  nor  does  he  see  the  method  by  which  a  given  sub- 
ject is  developed,  (e)  The  lecture  method,  therefore, 
inculcates  in  students  an  attitude  of  mental  subservience 
which  is  fatal  for  the  development  of  courageous  and 
vigorous  thought.  And  finally  (/)  it  must  be  urged  that 
in  lecture  teaching  the  instructor  is  not  testing  the  accuracy 
of  the  students'  conceptions  nor  is  he  able  to  judge  the 
eflScacy   of   his   own   methods. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  admitted  that  with 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     75 

an    effective    lecturer,    possessed    of   commanding   person-    " 
ality,  the  lecture  gives  a  point  of  view  of  a  subject  and 
an  enthusiasm  for  it  which  other  devices  fail  to  achieve. 
The  lecture  method  makes  for  economy  of  time  and  en- 
ables one  to  present  his  subject  to  his  class  with  a  succinct- 
ness absent  from  many  textbooks.     Where  much  must  be    "^ 
taught  in  a  limited  time,  where  a  comprehensive  view  of 
an  extensive  field   must  be  given,   when  certain  types  of 
responses  or  mental  attitudes  are  desired,  the  lecture  serves    < 
well. 

Experience  teaches  that  an  exclusive   lecture  system  is   ^^^  ^^^ 
^  •'of  lecture 

not  conducive  to  efficient  work;  that  lectures  to  regular  metbod 
classes  ought  to  be  punctuated  by  questions  whenever  in- 
terest lags;  that  the  occasional  and  even  the  unan- 
nounced lecture  is  more  effective;  that  supplementary  de- 
vices for  checking  up  assignments  and  regular  collateral 
study  are  of  vital  importance.  Where  regular  lectures  are 
followed  by  detailed  analyses  in  quiz  sections  the  best  re- 
sults are  obtained  when  the  lecturer  himself  is  the  questioner. 
Where  quiz  sections  are  turned  over  to  assistants,  wise 
procedure  requires  that  quiz  leaders  attend  the  lectures 
and  decide,  in  conference  with  the  lecturer,  the  specific 
aims  which  must  be  achieved  in  the  quiz  work  and  the  ^ 
assigned  readings  which  must  be  given  to  students  in 
preparation  for  each  quiz  hour.  Unless  this  is  done,  the 
student  is  frequently  confused  by  the  divergent  points  of 
view    presented    by    lecturer,    quiz    master,    and    textbook.   ^ 

The  development  method  has  much  to  commend  it. 
It  stimulates  activity  by  its  repeated  questions.  Few  or 
no  notes  are  taken.  There  is  constant  contact  with  the 
student.  At  every  point  the  mental  content  of  the  pupils 
is  revealed.  The  teacher  sees  the  result  of  his  teaching 
by  the  intelligence  of  successive  responses.  The  pupil  is 
being  trained  in  systematic  thought  and  in  concentration. 
But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  development  method 
is  often  costly  in  time  because  answers  may  be  wrong  or 
irrelevant.  It  may  encourage  wandering;  a  student's 
reply  reveals  ignorance  of  a  basic  principle,  and  the  aim 


76 


College  Teaching 


Place  of 
reference 
reading  in 
college 
teaching 


Evaluation 
of  develop- 
ment— So- 
cratic   or 
heuristic 
method 


of  the  lesson  is  often  forgotten  in  the  eagerness  to  patch 
up  this  misconception.  Then,  too,  in  subject  matter  that 
is  arbitrary,  as  in  descriptive  and  narrative  history,  no 
development  is  possible.  In  such  cases  the  questions  are 
designed  to  test  the  student's  knowledge  of  the  text,  and 
the  lesson  becomes  a  quiz  rather  than  a  development. 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  a  judicious  combination  of 
the  lecture  and  development  methods  will  give  better  re- 
sults than  the  exclusive  use  of  either  one.  The  analysis 
of  the  pedagogical  advantages  of  each  leads  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  development  method  should  predominate 
and  that  the  lecture  method  should  be  used  sparingly  and 
always  with   some  of  the  checking   devices  described. 

A  common  method  employed  in  advanced  courses  in 
college  subjects  emphasizes  reference  study  and  research. 
The  entire  course  is  reduced  to  a  series  of  problems,  each 
of  which  deals  with  a  vital  aspect  of  the  subject.  Each 
student  is  made  responsible  for  a  topic.  The  initial  hours 
are  devoted  to  an  examination  of  the  common  sources  of 
information  in  this  specific  subject,  the  modes  of  using 
these,  the  standards  to  be  attained  in  writing  a  paper  on 
one  of  the  topics,  and  similar  matters.  The  remainder  of 
the  term  is  given  over  to  seminar  work:  each  student  reads 
his  paper  and  holds  himself  in  readiness  to  answer  all 
questions  his  classmates  may  ask  on  his  topic.  The  aims 
of  such  a  course  are  obviously  to  develop  a  knowledge  of 
sources  and  an  ability  to  use  intelligently  the  unorganized 
data  found  by  the  student.  The  results  of  these  pseudo- 
seminar  courses  are  far  from  what  was  anticipated.  A 
thorough  investigation  of  such  a  course  will  soon  con- 
vince the  teacher  that  the  seminar  method,  whatever  its 
merits  in  university  training,  must  be  refined  and  diluted 
before  it  is  applied  to  college  teaching.     Let  us  see  why. 

Successful  reference  reading  requires  a  knowledge  of  the 
field  studied,  maturity  of  mind,  discriminating  judgment  in 
the  selection  of  material,  and  ability  in  organization.  The 
university  student  is  not  only  maturer  and  more  serious 
but  has  a  basis  of  broader  knowledge  than  most  under- 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     77 

graduates.  Without  this  equipment  of  mental  powers  and 
knowledge,  the  student  cannot  judge  the  merits  of  contend- 
ing views  nor  harmonize  seeming  discrepancies.  A 
student  who  has  no  ample  foundation  of  economics  cannot 
study  the  subject  by  reference  reading  on  the  problems 
of  economics.  To  learn  the  meaning  of  value  he  would 
read  the  psychological  explanations  of  the  Austrian  schools 
and  the  materialistic  conceptions  of  the  classical  writers. 
He  would  then  find  himself  in  a  state  of  confusion,  owing 
to  what  seemed  to  him  to  be  a  superfluity  of  explanations 
of  value.  When  one  understands  one  point  of  view,  an 
added  viewpoint  is  a  source  of  greater  clarity  and  a  means 
of  deeper  understanding.  But  when  one  is  entirely 
ignorant  of  fundamental  concepts,  two  points  of  view 
presented  simultaneously  become  two  sources  of  confusion. 
In  the  university  only  the  student  of  tried  worth  is  per- 
mitted to  take  a  seminar  course.  In  the  upper  classes  in 
college,  mediocre  students  are  often  welcomed  into  a 
seminar  course  in  order  to  help  float  an  unpromising  elec- 
tive. 

The    college    seminar    is    usually    unsuccessful    because  Limitations  j^ 
few  students  have  ability   to   hold   the   attention   of  their  method  in 
classmates    for    a    period    of    thirty    minutes    or    more,   o^der- 
Language    limitations,    lack    of    a    knowledge    of    subject   teaching 
matter,  inability  to  illustrate  eff^ectively,  and  the  skeptical 
attitude  of  fellow  students  all  militate  against  successful 
teaching  by  a  member  of  the  class.     Students  presenting  { 

papers  often  select  unimportant  details  or  give  too  many 
details.  The  rest  of  the  class  listen  languidly,  take  oc- 
casional notes,  and  ask  a  few  perfunctory  questions  to  help 
bring  the  session  to  a  close.  A  successful  hour  is  rare. 
The  student  who  prepared  the  topic  of  the  day  undoubt- 
edly is  benefited,  but  those  who  listen  acquire  little  knowl- 
edge and  less  power.  The  course  ends  without  a  compre- 
hensive view  of  the  entire  subject,  without  that  knowledge 
which  comes  from  the  teacher's  leadership  and  instruction. 
This  type  of  reference  reading  and  research  has  value  when 
used   as  an   occasional   ten   or   fifteen   minute  exercise   to 


78  College  Teaching 


Value  of 
laboratory 


supplement  certain  aspects  of  class  work.  But  as  a  steady 
diet  in  a  college  course,  the  seminar  usually  leaves  much 
to  be  desired. 

The  laboratory  method  is  growing  in  favor  today  in 
college  teaching.  It  is  employed  in  the  social  sciences,  in 
sociology,  in  economics,  in  psychology,  in  education,  as 
well  as  in  the  physical  and  the  biological  sciences.  Where 
it  is  followed  the  aim  is  clearly  twofold;  viz.,  to  teach 
the  method  by  which  the  specific  subject  is  growing  and 
to  develop  in  the  students  mental  power  and  a  scientific 
attitude  towards  knowledge. 

Let  us  illustrate  these  two  aims  of  the  laboratory  method, 
method  '  A  laboratory  course  in  chemistry  or  biology  or  sociology 
may  be  designed  to  teach  the  student  the  use  of  apparatus 
and  equipment  necessary  for  work  in  a  respective  field; 
the  method  of  attacking  a  problem;  a  standard  for  dis- 
tinguishing significant  from  immaterial  data;  methods  of 
gathering  facts;  the  modes  of  keeping  scientific  records, — 
in  a  word,  the  essence  of  the  experience  of  successive  gen- 
erations of  investigators  and  contributors.  But  no  success- 
ful laboratory  results  can  be  obtained  without  a  proper 
mental  attitude.  The  student  must  learn  how  to  prevent 
his  mental  prepossessions  or  his  desires  from  coloring  his 
observations;  to  allow  for  controls  and  variables;  to  give 
most  exacting  care  to  every  detail  that  may  influence  his 
result;  to  regard  every  conclusion  as  a  tentative  hypothesis 
subject  to  verification  or  modification  in  the  light  of 
further  test.  Unless  the  student  acquires  a  knowledge  of 
the  method  of  science  and  has  achieved  these  necessary 
modes  of  thought,  his  laboratory  course  has  failed  to  make 
its  most  significant  contribution. 

In  courses  where  the  aim  is  to  teach  socially  necessary 
information  or  to  give  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  scope 
of  a  specific  subject,  it  is  obvious  that  the  laboratory 
method  will  lead  far  afield.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
introductory  courses  given  in  recitations,  with  demonstra- 
tions by  instructors,  and  occasional  lecture  and  laboratory 
hours,  are  more  liberalizing  in   their  influence  upon  the 


General  Piinciples  of  College  Teaching     79 

beginners  than   courses  that   are   primarily   laboratory   in 
character. 

Most  laboratory  courses  would  enhance  their  usefulness   Cautions  in 

,  ,  .  r  •  1  •        1  •  TU  *^®   "Se   of 

by  observing  a  lew  primary  pedagogical  maxims.  Ihe  the  ubora- 
first  of  these  counsels  that  we  establish  most  clearly  the  toryn>«thod 
distinctive  aim  of  the  course.  The  instructor  must  be  sure 
that  he  has  no  quantitative  aim  to  attain  but  is  occupied 
rather  with  the  problems  of  teaching  the  method  of  his 
specialty.  Second,  an  earnest  effort  must  be  made  to 
acquaint  the  students  with  the  general  aim  of  the  entire 
course  as  well  as  with  the  specific  aim  of  each  laboratory 
exercise.  The  students  must  be  made  to  realize  that  they  are 
not  discovering  new  principles  but  that  by  rediscovering 
old  knowledge  or  testing  the  validity  of  well-established 
truths  they  are  developing  not  only  the  technique  of  in- 
vestigational work,  but  also  a  set  of  useful  mental  habits. 
Much  in  laboratory  work  seems  needless  to  the  student 
who  does  not  perceive  the  goal  which  every  task  strives  to 
attain. 

A  third  requisite  for  successful  laboratory  work  re- 
quires so  careful  a  gradation  that  every  type  of  problem 
peculiar  to  a  subject  is  made  to  arise  in  the  succession 
of  exercises.  It  is  wise  at  times  to  set  a  trap  for 
students  so  that  they  may  learn  through  the  consequences 
of  error.  For  this  reason  students  may  be  permitted  to 
leap  to  a  conclusion,  to  generalize  from  insuflScient  data, 
to  neglect  controls,  to  overlook  disturbing  factors,  etc. 
An  improperly  planned  and  poorly  graded  laboratory 
course  repeats  exercises  that  involve  the  same  problems 
and  omits  situations  that  give  training  in  attacking  and 
solving  new   problems. 

Effective  laboratory  courses  afford  opportunity  to 
students  to  repeat  those  exercises  in  which  they  failed 
badly.  If  each  exercise  in  the  course  is  designed  to  make 
a  specific  contribution  to  the  development  of  the  student, 
it  is  obvious  that  merely  marking  the  student  zero  for  a 
badly  executed  experiment  is  not  meeting  the  situation. 
He  must  in  addition  be  given  the  opportunity  to  repeat  the 


80 


College  Teaching 


The  college 
teacher  not 
the  univer- 
sity pro- 
fessor 


experiment  in  order  to  derive  the  necessary  variety  of 
experiences  from  his  laboratory  training.  And,  finally, 
the  character  of  the  test  that  concludes  a  laboratory  course 
must  be  considered.  The  test  must  be  governed  by  the 
same  underlying  aims  that  determine  the  entire  course. 
It  must  seek  to  reveal,  not  the  mastery  of  facts,  but  growth 
in  power.  It  must  measure  what  the  student  can  do  rather 
than  what  he  knows.  A  properly  organized  test  serves  to 
reinforce  in  the  minds  of  students  the  aims  of  the  entire 
course. 

An  analysis  of  effective  teaching  is  necessarily  incom- 
plete that  does  not  give  due  consideration  to  the  only 
human  factor  in  the  teaching  process  —  the  teacher.  We 
have  too  long  repeated  the  old  adages:  "  he  who  knows  can 
teach";  "a  teacher  is  born,  not  made";  "experience  is 
the  teacher  of  teachers."  These  dicta  are  all  tried  and 
true,  but  they  have  the  failings  common  to  platitudes.  It 
often  happens  that  those  who  know  but  lack  in  imagina- 
tion and  sympathy  are  by  that  very  knowing  rendered  unfit 
to  teach.  "  Knowing "  so  well,  they  cannot  see  the  diffi- 
culties that  beset  the  learner's  path,  and  they  have  little 
patience  with  the  student's  slow  and  measured  steps  in  the 
very  beginnings  of  their  specialty.  It  is  true  that  some  are 
born  teachers,  but  our  educational  institutions  could  not 
be  maintained  if  classes  were  turned  over  only  to  those  to 
whom  nature  had  given  lavishly  of  pedagogical  power. 
Experience  teaches  even  teachers,  but  the  price  paid  must 
be  computed  in  terms  of  the  welfare  of  the  student. 
Teaching  is  one  of  the  arts  in  which  the  artist  works  only 
with  living  material;  yet  college  authorities  still  make 
no  demand  of  professional  training  and  apprenticeship  as 
prerequisites  for  admission  to  the  fraternity  of  teaching 
artists. 

Ineffective  college  teaching  will  not  improve  until  pro- 
fessional teaching  standards  are  set  up  by  respected  in- 
stitutions. The  college  teacher  must  be  possessed  of  ample 
scholarship  of  a  general  nature.  He  must  have  expertness 
in   his  specialty,  to   give  him   a   knowledge  of  his   field, 


General  Principles  of  College  Teaching     81 

its  problems  and  its  methods.  He  must  be  a  constant  ^ 
student,  so  that  his  scholarship  in  his  specialty  will  win 
recognition  and  respect.  But  part  of  his  preparation  must 
be  given  over  to  professional  training  for  teaching.  With- 
out this,  the  prospective  teacher  may  not  know  until  it  is 
too  late  that  his  deficiencies  of  personality  unfit  him  for 
teaching.  With  it,  he  shortens  his  term  of  novitiate  and 
acquires  his  experience  under  expert  guidance.  The  plan 
of  college-teacher  training,  given  by  Dr.  Mezes  in  Chapter 
II,  so  complete  in  scope,  so  thoroughly  sound  and  progres- 
sive in  character,  is  here  suggested  as  a  type  of  professional 
preparation  now  sorely  needed. 

The  usual  test  of  teacher  and  student  is  still  the  tradi-   Testing  the 

results  of 
tional  exammation,  with  its  many  questions  and  sub-ques-  instruction 

tions.  We  still  measure  the  results  of  instruction  by 
fathoming  the  fund  of  information  our  students  carry 
away.  But  these  traditional  examinations  test  for  what  is 
temporary  and  accidental.  Facts  known  today  are  for- 
gotten tomorrow.  The  professor  himself  often  comes  to 
class  armed  with  notes,  but  he  persists  in  setting  up,  as 
a  test  of  the  growth  of  his  students,  their  retentivity  of  the 
facts  he  gave  from  these  very  notes.  In  the  final  analysis, 
these  examinations  are  not  tests.  The  writer  does  not  urge 
the  abolition  of  examinations,  but  argues  rather  for  a  re- 
organized examination  that  embodies  new  standards.  A 
real  examination  must  test  for  what  is  permanent  and  vital; 
it  must  measure  the  degree  to  which  students  approximate 
the  aims  that  were  set  up  to  govern  the  entire  course;  it 
must  gauge  the  mental  habits,  the  growth  in  power,  rather  ^ 
than  facts.  Part  of  an  examination  in  mathematics  should 
test  students'  ability  to  attack  new  problems,  to  plan  a  line 
of  work,  to  think  mathematically,  to  avoid  typical  fallacies 
of  thought.  For  this  part  of  the  test,  books  may  be  opened 
and  references  consulted.  In  literature  we  may  question 
on  text  not  discussed  in  class  to  ascertain  the  students' 
power  of  appreciation  or  of  literary  criticism.  So,  too,  in 
examinations  in  social  sciences,  physical  sciences,  foreign 
languages,  and  biological  sciences,  the  examination  must 


82  College  Teaching 

consist,  in  great  measure,  of  questions  which  test  the 
acquisition  of  the  habits  of  thought,  of  work,  of  laboratory 
procedure  —  in  a  word,  the  permanent  contribution  of  any 
study.  This  part  of  an  examination  should  be  differ- 
entiated from  the  more  mechanical  and  memory  questions 
which  seek  to  reveal  the  student's  mastery  of  those  facts 
of  a  subject  which  may  be  regarded  as  socially  necessary. 
Reduce  the  socially  necessary  data  of  any  subject  to  an 
absolute  minimum  and  frame  questions  on  it  demand- 
ing no  such  slovenly  standard  —  sixty  per  cent  —  as 
now  prevails  in  college  examinations.  If  the  facts  called 
for  on  an  examination  are  really  the  most  vital  in  the  sub- 
ject, the  passing  grade  should  be  very  high.  If  the  ques- 
tions seek  to  elicit  insignificant  or  minor  information,  any 
passing  mark  is  too  high.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  a 
student  should  receive  two  marks  in  most  subjects, —  one 
that  rates  power  and  another  that  rates  mere  acquisition 
of  facts.  The  passing  grade  in  the  one  would  necessarily 
be  lower  than  in  the  other.  An  examination  is  justified 
only  when  it  is  so  devised  that  it  reveals  not  only  the 
students'  stock  of  socially  useful  knowledge  but  also  their 
growth  in  mental  power. 

Paul  Klapper 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York 


PART  TWO 
The  Sciences 

CHAPTKB 

IV    The  Teaching  of  Biology 

T.  W.  Galloway 

V    The  Teaching  of  Chemistry 

Louis  Kohlenberg 

VI    The  Teaching  of  Physics 

Harvey  B.  Lemon 

VII    The  Teaching  of  Geology 

T.  C.  Chamberlin 

VIII    The  Teaching  of  Mathematics 

G.  A.  Miller 

IX    Physical  Education  in  the  College 

Thomas  A.  Storey 


IV 
THE  TEACHING  OF  BIOLOGY 

Biology  and  Education 

THE  life  sciences,  broadly  conceived,  are  basal  to  all  de-  Biology  the 
SClOZlCd  D&SAl 
partments   of  knowledge;    and   the   study   of  biology   to  au 

illumines  every  field  of  human  interest.  To  the  believer  ^o^i^K 
in  evolution  the  human  body,  brain,  senses,  intellect,  sen- 
sations, impulses,  habits,  ideas,  knowledges,  ideals, 
standards,  attractions,  sympathies,  combinations,  organiza- 
tions, institutions,  and  all  other  powers  and  possessions  of 
every  kind  and  degree  are  merely  crowning  phenomena  of 
life  itself.  The  languages,  history,  science,  economic  sys- 
tems, philosophies,  and  literatures  of  mankind  are  only 
special  manifestations  and  expressions  of  life  and  a  part, 
therefore,  of  the  studies  by  which  We  as  living  beings  are 
trying  to  appraise  and  appreciate  the  meaning  of  life  and 
of  the  universe  of  which  life  is  the  most  significant  product. 
Life  is  not  merely  the  most  notable  product  of  our  universe; 
it  is  the  most  persuasive  key  for  solving  the  riddle  of  the 
universe,  and  is  the  only  universe  product  which  aspires  to 
interpret  the  processes  by  which  it  has  reached  its  own  pres- 
ent level. 

All  knowledge,  then,  is  biological  in  the  very  vital  sense 
that  the  living  organism  is  the  only  knowing  thing.  The 
knowing  process  is  a  life  process.  Even  when  knowledge 
pertains  to  non-living  objects,  therefore,  it  is  one-half  bio- 
logical; our  most  worth-while  knowledge  —  that  of  our- 
selves and  other  organisms  —  is  wholly  so.  Because  all 
our  knowledge  is  colored  by  the  life  process,  of  which 
the  knowing  process  is  derivative,  the  study  of  life  under- 
lies every  science  and  its  applications,  every  art  and  its 
practice,  every  philosophy  and  its  interpretations.  Biol- 
ogy must  be  taught  in  sympathy  with  the  whole  joint 
enterprise  of  living  and  of  learning. 

85 


86 


College  Teaching 


Adaptation 
without  los- 
ing adapta- 
biUty   the 
goal  of  life 
and    of 
education 


The  most  outstanding  phenomenon  of  life  is  the  adapta- 
tion of  living  things  to  the  real  and  significant  conditions  of 
their  existence.  Furthermore,  as  these  conditions  are  noJ 
static,  particularly  in  the  case  of  humans,  organisms  must 
not  merely  be  adapted,  but  must  continue  thereafter  to  be 
adaptable.  Now  learning  is  only  a  special  case  under 
living,  and  education  a  special  case  under  life.  Its  pur- 
poses are  the  purposes  of  life.  It  is  an  artificial  and  rapid 
recapitulation  for  the  individual,  in  method  and  results, 
of  past  life  itself.  The  purpose  of  education  is  "  adap- 
tation,—  with  the  retention  of  adaptability."  It  is  to  bring 
the  individual  into  attunement,  through  his  own  responses 
and  growth,  with  all  the  real  factors,  external  and  internal, 
in  his  life, —  material,  intellectual,  emotional,  social,  and 
spiritual, —  and  at  the  same  time  leave  him  plastic. 

Adaptation  comes  through  the  habit-forming  experiences 
of  stimulus  and  response.  The  very  process  of  adaptation, 
therefore,  tends  toward  fixity  and  to  destroy  adaptability. 
It  is  thus  the  task  of  education,  as  It  is  of  life,  to  replace  the 
native,  inexperienced  and  physiological  plasticity  of  youth 
with  some  product  of  experience  which  shall  be  able  to 
revise  habits  in  the  interest  of  new  situations.  The  adapt- 
ability of  the  experienced  person  must  be  psychical  and 
acquired.  It  must  be  in  the  realm  of  appreciation,  atti- 
tude,  choice,    self -direction  — -  a   realm   superior   to    habit. 

In  this  human  task  of  securing  adaptation  and  retaining 
adaptiveness  the  life  sciences  have  high  rank.  In  addi- 
tion to  furnishing  the  very  conception  itself  that  we  have 
been  trying  to  phrase,  they  give  illustrations  of  all  the  his- 
toric occasions,  kinds,  and  modes  of  adaptation;  in  lacking 
the  exactness  of  the  mathematical  and  physical  sciences 
they  furnish  precisely  the  degree  of  uncertainty  and  open- 
ness of  opportunity  and  of  mental  state  which  the  act  of 
living  itself  demands.  In  other  words  the  science  of  life 
is,  if  properly  presented,  the  most  normal  possible  intro- 
duction to  the  very  practical  art  of  living.  Because  of  the 
parallel  meaning  of  education  and  life  in  securing  progres- 
sive adaptation  to  the  essential  influential  forces  of  the  uni- 


The  Teaching  of  Biology  87 

verse,  an  appreciative  study  of  biology  introduces  directly 
to  the  purposes  and  methods  of  human  education. 

Chief  Aims  of  Biology  as  a  College  Subject 

While  students  differ  in  the  details  of  their  purposes  in  Why  study 
life,  all  must  learn  to  make  the  broad  adjustments  to  the  coUege? 
physical  conditions  of  life;  to  the  problems  of  food  and 
nutrition;  to  other  organisms,  helpful  and  hurtful;  to  the 
internal  impulses,  tendencies,  and  appetites;  to  the  various 
necessary  human  contacts  and  relations;  to  the  great  body 
of  knowledge  important  to  life,  which  human  beings  have 
got  together;  to  the  prevailing  philosophical  interpreta- 
tions of  the  universe  and  of  life;  and  to  the  pragmatic  or- 
ganizations, conventions,  and  controls  which  human  society 
has  instituted.  In  addition  to  these,  some  students  of  biol- 
ogy are  going  into  various  careers,  each  demanding  special 
adjustments  which  biology  may  aid  notably.  Such  are 
medicine  and  its  related  specialties,  professional  agricul- 
tural courses,  and  biological  research  of  all  kinds. 

An  extended  examination  of  college  catalogs  shows  some 
consciousness  of  these  facts  on  the  part  of  teachers  of 
biology.  The  following  needs  are  formally  recognized  in 
the  prospectuses:  (1)  The  disciplinary  and  cultural  needs 
of  the  general  student;  (2)  the  needs  of  those  preparing 
for  medicine  or  other  professional  courses;  and  (3)  the 
needs  of  the  people  proposing  to  specialize  in  botany  and 
zoology.  These  aims  are  usually  mentioned  in  the  order 
given  here;  but  an  examination  of  the  character  of  the 
courses  often  reveals  the  fact  that  the  actual  organization  of 
the  department  is  determined  by  an  exact,  reversal  of  this 
order, —  that  most  of  the  attention  is  given,  even  in  the 
beginning  courses,  to  the  task  of  preparing  students  to  take 
advanced  work  in  the  subject.  The  theory  of  the  depart- 
ments is  usually  better  than  their  practice. 

In  what  follows  these  are  the  underlying  assumptions, 
—  which  seem  without  need  of  argument:  (1)  The  gen- 
eral human  needs  should  have  the  first  place  in  organizing 


88 


College  Teaching 


the  courses  in  biology;  (2)  the  introductory  courses  should 
not  be  constructed  primarily  as  the  first  round  in  the  ladder 
of  biological  or  professional  specialization,  but  for  the  gen- 
eral purposes  of  human  life;  (3)  the  preparation  needed 
by  teachers  of  biology  for  secondary  schools  is  more  nearly 
like  that  needful  for  the  general  student  than  that  suited 
to  the  specialist  in  the  subject;  and  (4)  the  later  courses 
may  more  and  more  be  concerned  with  the  special  ends 
of  professional  and  vocational  preparation. 


(1)   Stndy 
of  biology 
famishes 
knowledge 
of  adaptive 
value 


General  Aims  of  Biology  in  Education 

What  are  the  general  adaptive  contributions  of  biology  to 
human  nature?  What  are  the  results  in  the  individual 
which  biology  should  aim  to  bring  to  every  student? 
There  are  four  classes  of  personal  possessions,  important 
in  human  adaptation,  to  which  biology  ministers  in  a  con- 
spicuous way:  information  and  knowledge;  ability  and 
skills;  habits;  and  attitudes,  appreciations,  and  ideals. 
These  four  universal  aims  of  education  are  doubtless  closely 
related  and  actually  inseparable,  but  it  is  worth  while  to 
consider  them  apart  for  the  sake  of  clearness. 

A.    TYPES  OF   BIOLOGICAL  KNOWLEDGE   USEFUL  IN  THE 

ADAPTATION   OF    HUMAN   BEINGS   TO   THE    MOST 

IMPORTANT    CONDITIONS   OF   THEIR   LIFE 

(1)  Some  knowledge  of  the  processes  by  which  indi- 
vidual plants  and  animals  grow  and  differentiate,  through 
nutrition  and  activity;  of  the  process  of  development  com- 
mon to  all  organisms;  and  the  bearing  of  these  facts  on 
human  life,  health,  and  conduct. 

(2)  An  outline  knowledge  of  reproduction  in  plants  and 
animals;  the  origin,  nature,  meaning,  and  results  of  sex; 
the  contribution  of  sex  to  human  life,  to  social  organization 
and  ideals,  and  its  importance  in  determining  behavior  and 
controls. 

(3)  A  good  knowledge  of  the  external  forces  most  im- 
portant in  influencing  life;  of  the  nature  of  the  influence; 


The  Teaching  of  Biology  89 

of  the  various  ways  in  which  organisms  respond  and  become 
adjusted  individually  and  racially  to  these  conditions.  A 
sense  of  the  necessity  of  adaptation;  of  the  working  of  the 
laws  of  cause  and  effect  among  living  things,  as  every- 
where else;  of  the  fact  that  nature's  laws  cannot  be  safely 
ignored  by  man  any  more  than  by  the  lower  organisms; 
of  the  relation  between  animal  behavior  and  human  be- 
havior. 

(4)  Equally  a  true  conception  of  the  known  facts  about 
the  internal  tendencies  in  organisms  including  man,, which 
we  call  hereditary.  The  principles  underlying  plant,  ani- 
mal, and  human  breeding.  Any  progress  in  behavior,  in 
legislation,  or  in  public  opinion  in  the  field  of  eugenics, 
negative  or  positive,  must  come  from  the  spread  of  such 
knowledge. 

(5)  A  knowledge  of  the  numerous  ways  in  which  plants 
and  animals  contribute  to  or  interfere  with  human  welfare. 
This  includes  use  for  food,  clothing,  and  labor  saving; 
their  destruction  of  other  plants  or  animals  useful  or  hurt- 
ful to  us;  their  work  in  producing,  spreading,  or  aiding 
in  the  cure  of  disease;  their  aesthetic  service  and  inspiration; 
the  aid  they  give  us  in  learning  of  our  own  nature 
through  the  experiments  we  conduct  upon  them;  and  many 
miscellaneous  services. 

(6)  A  conception  of  the  evolutionary  series  of  plants  and 
animals,  and  of  man's  place  in  the  series;  a  reassurance  that 
man's  high  place  as  an  intellectual  and  emotional  being 
is  in  no  way  put  in  peril  by  his  being  a  part  of  the 
series.  Some  clear  knowledge  of  the  general  manner  of 
the  development  of  the  plant  and  animal  kingdoms  to  their 
present  complexity  should  be  gained.  The  student  should 
have  some  acquaintance  with  the  great  generalizations  that 
have  meant  so  much  to  the  science  and  to  all  human  think- 
ing, should  understand  how  they  were  reached  and  the  main 
classes  of  facts  on  which  they  are  based. 

(7)  The  general  student  should  be  required  to  have  such 
knowledge  of  structure  and  classification  as  is  needed  to 
give  foundation  and  body  to  the  evolutionary  conceptions 


90 


College  Teaching 


(2)  Biologi- 
cal study 
gives  desir- 
able skills 


of  plants  and  animals,  and  to  the  various  processes  and 
powers  mentioned  above  —  and  only  so  much. 

(8)  Some  knowledge  of  the  development  of  the  science 
itself;  of  its  relation  to  the  other  sciences;  of  the  men  who 
have  most  contributed  to  it,  and  their  contributions;  of  the 
manner  of  making  these  discoveries,  and  of  the  bearing 
of  the  more  important  of  these  discoveries  upon  human 
learning,  progress,  and  well-being. 

(9)  Something  of  the  parallelism  between  animal  psy- 
chology, behavior,  habits,  instincts,  and  learning,  and  those 
of  man, —  in  both  the  individual  and  the  social  realm. 

(10)  An  elementary  understanding  of  plant  and  animal 
and  human  distribution  over  the  earth,  and  of  the  factors 
that  have  brought  it  about. 

B.    FORMS  OF  SKILL  WHICH   WORK  IN  BIOLOGY  SHOULD 
BRING   TO    EVERY   STUDENT 

Skill  or  ability  may  be  developed  in  respect  to  the 
following  activities:  seeking  and  securing  information, 
recording  it,  interpreting  its  significance,  reaching  general 
conclusions  about  it,  modifying  one's  conduct  under  the 
guidance  of  these  conclusions,  and,  finally,  of  appraising 
the  soundness  of  this  conduct  in  the  light  of  the  results  of  it. 
All  of  these  are  of  basic  importance  in  the  human  task  of 
making  conscious  adjustments  in  actual  life;  and  the  ability 
to  get  facts  and  to  use  them  is  more  valuable  than  to  possess 
the  knowledge  of  facts.  Other  sciences  develop  some  of 
these  forms  of  skill  better  than  biology  does;  nevertheless, 
we  shall  find  that  biology  furnishes  a  remarkably  balanced 
opportunity  to  develop  skills  of  the  various  kinds.  It  pre- 
sents a  great  range  and  variety  of  opportunity  to  develop 
accuracy  and  skill  in  raising  questions;  in  observation  and 
the  use  of  precise  descriptive  terms  in  recording  results  of 
observation;  in  experimentation;  in  comparison  and  classi- 
fication. It  is  peculiarly  rich  in  opportunities  to  gain  skill 
in  discriminating  between  important  and  unimportant  data, 
—  one  of  the  most  vital  of  all  the  steps  in  the  process  of 
sound  reasoning.     In  practice,  a  datum  may  at  first  sight 


.  The  Teaching  of  Biology  91 

seem  trivial,  when  in  reality  it  is  very  significant.  Skill 
in  estimating  values  comes  only  with  experience  in  esti- 
mating values,  and  in  applying  these  estimates  in  practice, 
and  in  observing  and  correcting  the  results  of  practice. 

Finally,  skill  in  adjusting  behavior  to  knowledge  is  one 
of  the  most  necessary  abilities  and  most  difficult  to  attain. 
The  study  of  animal  behavior  experimentally  is  at  the 
foundation  of  much  that  we  know  of  human  psychology 
and  the  grounds  of  human  behavior.  Even  in  an  elemen- 
tary class  it  is  quite  possible  so  to  study  animal  responses 
and  the  results  of  response  as  to  give  guidance  and  facility 
to  the  individual  in  interpreting  the  efficiency  of  his  own 
responses,  and  in  adding  to  his  own  controls.  As  has  been 
said,  practice  of  some  kind  is  necessary  to  determine 
whether  our  estimate  of  values  is  good.  Even  vicarious 
experience  has  educative  value. 

C.    HABITS   WHICH    MAY    BE   STRENGTHENED    BY    THE 
WORK    IN    BIOLOGY 

Habits  are  of  course  the  normal   outcome  of  repeated    (3)  Biology 
action.     Indeed,  skills  are  in  a  sense  habits  from  another   adaptive 
point   of  view.     Skill,   however,   looks   rather   toward   the   ^^^^^^ 
output;  habit,  toward  the  mode  of  functioning  by  the  per- 
son  by   whom   the   result  is   attained.     We   may   then  de- 
velop habits  in  respect  to  all  the  processes  and  activities 
mentioned    above    under    the    term  "  skills."     The  teacher 
of  biology  should  have  definitely  in  purpose  the  securing 
for  the  student  of  habits  of  inquiry,  of  diligence,  of  con- 
centration,   of   accuracy    of    observation,    of    seeking    and 
weighing  evidence,  of  detecting  the  essentials  in  a  mass  of 
facts,  of  refusing  to  rest  satisfied  until  a  conclusion,  the 
most  tenable  in  the  light  of  all  known  data,  is  reached, 
and  of  reexamining  conclusions  whenever  new  evidence  is 
oflfered. 

Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  use  biology  to  get  habits 
of  right  reasoning  in  students  unless  we  really  allow  them  to 
reason.  If  we  insist  that  their  work  is  merely  to  observe, 
record,  and  hold  in  memory, —  as  so  many  of  us  do  in 


92  College  Teaching 

laboratory  work, —  they  may  form  habits  of  doing  these 
things,  but  not  necessarily  any  more  than  this.  Indeed, 
they  may  definitely  form  the  habit  of  doing  only  these 
things,  failing  to  use  the  results  in  forming  for  themselves 
any  of  the  larger  conclusions  about  organisms.  Seeing  and 
knowing  —  without  the  ability  and  habit  of  thinking  —  is 
not  an  uncommon  or  surprising  result  of  our  conventional 
laboratory  work.  There  is  only  one  way  to  get  the  habit 
of  right  "  following  through  "  in  reasoning;  this  is,  always 
to  do  the  thing.  When  data  are  observed  or  are  furnished 
it  is  a  pedagogical  sin  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  to  allow 
the  student  to  stop  at  that  point;  and  equally  so  to  deduce 
the  conclusion  for  the  student,  or  to  allow  the  writer  of  the 
textbook  to  do  so,  or  at  any  time  to  induce  the  student  to 
accept  from  another  a  conclusion  which  he  himself  might 
reach  from  the  data.  We  have  depended  too  much  on  our 
science  as  a  mere  observational  science, —  when  as  a  matter 
of  fact  its  chief  glory  is  really  its  opportunity  and  its 
incentives  to  coherent  thinking  and  careful  testing  of  con- 
clusions. 

It  is  inexact  enough,  if  we  are  entirely  honest,  to  force 
us  to  hold  our  conclusions  with  an  open  mind  ready  to 
admit  new  evidence.  It  is  entirely  the  fault  of  the  teacher 
if  the  pupil  gets  a  dogmatic,  too-sure  habit  of  mind  as  the 
result  of  his  biological  studies.  And  yet,  as  has  been  said, 
it  is  exact  enough  to  enable  us  to  reach  just  the  same  sort 
of  approximations  to  truth  which  are  possible  in  our  own 
lives.  The  study  of  biology  presents  a  superb  opportunity 
to  prepare  for  living  by  forming  the  habits  of  mind  and 
of  life  that  facilitate  right  choices  in  the  presence  of  highly 
debatable  situations.  In  this  it  much  surpasses  the  more 
"  exact  "  sciences.  We  may  conclude,  then,  by  positing  the 
belief  that  the  most  important  mental  habit  which  human 
beings  can  form  is  that  of  using  and  applying  consciously 
the  scientific  method  as  outlined  above,  not  merely  to  biol- 
ogy alone,  but  to  all  the  issues  of  personal  life  as  well. 


The  Teaching  of  Biology  93 


D.   APPRECIATIONS,  ATTITUDES,  AND  IDEALS  AS  AIDED  BY 
BIOLOGY 

This  group  of  objectives  is  a  bit  less  tangible,  as  some    (4)  Atti- 
think,  than   those  that  have  been   mentioned;   but  in   my   {Jt**  er- 
own  opinion  they  are  as  important  and  as  educable  for  the   fected  by 
good  of  the  youth  by  means  of  biology  as  are  knowledge,  ^'Iffciences 
skill,  and  habit.     In  a  sense  these  states  of  mind  arise  as 
by-products  of  the  getting  of  information,  skills,  and  habits; 
in  turn  they  heighten  their  value.     We  have  spoken  above 
of  the  need  of  skill  and  habit  in  making  use  of  the  various 
steps  in  the  scientific  method  in  reaching  conclusions  in  life. 
These  are  essential,  but  skill  and  habit  alone  are  not  enough 
to  meet  the  necessities  in  actual  life. 

In  the  first  place  the  habit  of  using  the  scientific  method 
in  the  scientific  laboratory  does  not  in  itself  give  assurance 
that  the  person  will  apply  this  method  in  getting  at  the 
truth  in  problems  in  his  own  personal  life;  and  yet  this 
is  the  essential  object  of  all  this  scientific  training.  In 
order  to  get  the  individual  to  carry  over  this  method, — 
especially  where  feelings  and  prejudices  are  involved, — 
we  must  inculcate  in  him  the  scientific  ideal  and  the  scien- 
tific attitude  until  they  become  general  in  their  influence. 
To  do  this  he  ought  to  be  induced  as  a  regular  part  of 
his  early  courses  in  biology  to  practice  the  scientific  method 
upon  certain  practical  daily  decisions  exactly  with  the  same 
rigor  that  is  used  in  the  biological  laboratory.  The  custom 
of  using  this  method  in  animal  study  should  be  trans- 
formed into  an  altitude  of  dependence  upon  it  as  the  only 
sound  method  of  solving  one's  life  choices.  Only  by  carry- 
ing the  method  consciously  into  our  life's  problems,  as  a  part 
of  the  exercise  in  the  course  in  biology,  can  we  break  up  the 
disposition  to  regard  the  method  as  good  merely  in  the  bio- 
logical laboratory.  We  must  generate,  by  practice  and  pre- 
cept, the  ideal  of  making  universal  our  dependence  upon 
our  best  instrument  of  determining  truth.  A  personal  habit 
in  the  laboratory  must  become  a  general  ideal  for  life, 
if  we  hope  to  substitute  the  scientific  method  for  prejudice 


94 


College  Teaching 


(5)  Biology 
a    valuable 
tool  for 
certain 
technical 
pursuits 


in  human  living.  There  is  no  department  of  learning  so 
well  capable  of  doing  this  thing  as  biology. 

In  the  second  place,  the  scientific  method  standing  alone, 
because  of  its  very  excellence  as  a  method,  is  liable  to  pro- 
duce a  kind  of  over-sure  dogmatism  about  conclusions,  un- 
less it  be  accompanied  by  the  scientific  attitude  or  spirit  of 
open-mindedness.  The  scientific  spirit  does  not  necessarily 
flow  from  the  scientific  method  at  all,  unless  the  teacher  is 
careful  in  his  use  of  it  in  teaching.  We  make  a  mistake  if, 
in  our  just  enthusiasm  to  impress  the  scientific  method  upon 
the  student,  we  fail  to  teach  that  it  can  give,  at  best,  only  an 
approximation  to  truth.  The  scientific  attitude  which  holds 
even  our  best-supported  conclusions  subject  to  revision  by 
new  evidence  is  the  normal  corrective  of  the  possible  dog- 
matism that  comes  from  over-confidence  in  the  scientific 
method  as  our  best  means  of  discovering  truth. 

The  student  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  biology  ought 
to  have  more  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  plants  and 
animals  and  their  life  than  at  the  beginning, —  and  in- 
creased appreciation  of  his  own  relation  to  other  animals; 
some  attitude  of  dependence  upon  the  scientific  method  of 
procedure  not  merely  in  biology  but  in  his  own  life;  a 
desire,  however  modest,  for  investigating  things  for  himself; 
and  an  ideal  of  open-minded,  enthusiastic  willingness  to 
subject  his  own  conclusions  to  renewed  testing  at  all  times. 
All  these  gains  should  be  reinforced  by  later  courses. 

Special  Aims  of  Biology  in  Education 

So  far  as  I  can  see,  the  preparation  of  students  for 
medicine,  for  biological  research,  or  for  any  advanced  ap- 
plication of  biology  calls  only  for  the  following, —  in  addi- 
tion to  the  further  intensification  of  the  emphasis  suggested 
above : 

(a)  An  increased  recognition  of  the  subject  matter  in 
organizing  the  course.  In  the  early  courses  the  subject 
ought  to  be  subordinated  to  the  personal  elements.  If  one 
is  to  relate  himself  to  the  science  in  a  professional  way,  the 
logic  of  the  science  comes  to  be  the  dominant  objective. 


The  Teaching  of  Biologij 


95 


(6)  Growing  out  of  the  above  there  comes  to  be  a  change 
of  emphasis  on  the  scientific  method.  The  method  itself 
is  identical,  but  the  attitude  toward  it  is  different.  In  the 
early  courses  it  was  guided  by  the  teaching  purpose.  We 
insist  upon  the  method  in  order  that  the  student  may  ap- 
preciate how  the  subject  has  grown,  may  realize  how  all 
truth  must  be  reached,  and  may  come  habitually  to  apply 
the  method  to  his  life  problems.  In  the  later  courses  it 
becomes  the  method  of  research  into  the  unknown.  The 
student  comes  more  and  more  to  use  it  as  a  tool,  in  whose 
use  he  himself  is  subordinated  to  his  devotion  to  a  field  of 
investigation. 

(c)  A  greater  emphasis  upon  such  special  forms  of 
biological  knowledge  as  will  be  necessary  as  tools  in  the 
succeeding  steps,  and  the  selection  of  subject  matter  with 
this  specifically  in  view.  This  is  chiefly  a  matter  of  infor- 
mation, making  the  next  steps  intellectually  possible. 

id)  More  specific  forms  of  skill,  adapted  to  the  work 
contemplated.  Technic  becomes  an  object  in  such  courses. 
Morphology,  histology,  technic,  exact  experimentation, 
repetition,  drill,  extended  comparative  studies,  classifi- 
tion,  and  the  like  become  more  essential  than  in  the  ele- 
mentary courses.  Thoroughness  and  mastery  are  desiderata 
for  the  sake  both  of  subject  matter  and  character;  and  in 
very  much  greater  degree  than  in  the  general  course. 


Organization  of  the  Course  in  Biology 

The  writer  does  not  feel  that  standardized  programs  in    Biology 
biology  in  colleges  are  either  possible  or  desirable.     What  t*lJ*be"tand! 
is  set  down  here  under  this  heading  is  merely   intended   ardized 
as  carrying  out  the  principles  outlined  above,  and  not  as 
the  only  way  to  provide  a  suitable  program.     The  writer 
assumes  that  the  undergraduates  are  handled  by  men  of 
catholic  interests;  and  that  the  undergraduate  courses  are 
not  distributed  and  manipulated  primarily  as  feeders  for 
specialized  departments  of  research  in  a  graduate  school. 
This  latter  attitude  is,  in  my  opinion,  fatal  to  creditable 


96 


College  Teaching 


But  they 
sbould 
follow 
a  general 
principle: 


(1)  The  first 
group  of 
courses 
should  intro- 
duce to  life 
rather    than 
to  later  bio- 
logical 
courses 


undergraduate  instruction  for  the  general  student  or  for  the 
future  high  school  teachers  of  the  subject. 

There  are  three  groups  or  cycles  of  courses  which  may 
properly  be  developed  by  the  college  or  by  the  undergrad- 
uate department  of  the  university. 

First  Group 

This  group  contains  introductory  courses  for  all  students, 
but  organized  particularly  with  the  idea  of  bringing  the 
rich  material  of  biology  to  the  service  of  young  people 
with  the  aim  of  making  them  effective  in  life,  and  not  as  a 
first  course  for  making  them  botanists  or  zoologists. 

Course  —  Biology  1.     General  Biology 

This  course  should  introduce  the  student  to  the  college 
method  of  work  in  the  life  sciences;  should  give  him  the 
general  knowledge  and  points  of  view  outlined  above  as 
the  chief  aims  of  Biology;  should  synthesize  what  the  student 
already  knows  about  plants  and  animals  under  the  general 
conception  of  life.  Ideally  the  botanical  and  zoological 
portions  should  be  fused  and  be  given  by  one  teacher,  rather 
than  presented  as  one  semester  of  botany  and  one  of  zool- 
ogy. This,  however,  is  frequently  impracticable.  In  any 
event  the  total  result  should  really  be  biology,  and  not  a 
patchwork  of  botany  and  zoology.  Hence  there  should  be 
a  free  crossing  of  the  barriers  in  use  of  materials  at  all 
times. 

A  year  of  biology  is  recommended  because  each  pupil 
ought  to  have  some  work  in  both  fields,  and  we  cannot  ex- 
pect him  to  take  a  year  in  each. 

Course  —  Biology  2.     History  of  Biology 

This  course,  dealing  with  the  relation  of  the  development 
of  biology  to  human  interests  and  problems,  may  be  given 
separately,  or  as  a  part  of  Course  I, —  which  should  other- 
wise be  prerequisite  to  it.  This  may  be  one  of  the  most 
humanizing  of  all  the  possible  courses  in  biology. 


The  Teaching  of  Biology 


97 


Second  Group 
This  group   furnishes   a   series  of  courses  providing  a    ^^^  ^"^^ 
thorough   introduction   to   the   principles   and   methods   of  be  technical 
botany  and  zoology.     They  provide  discipline,  drill,  com-   ^ctoo^to 
parison,  mastery  of  technic  as  well  as  increased  appreciation   profes- 
of  biology  and  of  the  scientific  method.     They  should  pre- 
pare for  advanced  work  in  biology,  and  for  technical  appli- 
cations of  it  to  medicine,  agriculture,  stock  breeding,  for- 
estry, etc. 


sioual  uses 


Course  —  Botany  1 :  Gen- 
eral and  Comparative  Bot- 
any, and  the  Evolution  of 
Plants. 

Course  —  Botany  2 :  Physi- 
ology and  Ecology  of 
Plants. 

Course  —  Botany  3:  Plant 
Cytology,  Histology,  and 
Embryology. 


Course  —  Zoology  1 :  Gen 
eral  and  Comparative  Zo 
ology. 

Course  —  Zoology  2:  Ani 
mal,  including  Human 
Physiology. 

Course  —  Zoology  3:  Mi 
crotechnic.  Histology, 

Histogenesis,  Embryogeny 

Course  —  Zoology  4:  Ani 
mal   Ecology. 

This  outline  for  botany  and  zoology  follows  in  the  main 
the  most  common  arrangement  found  in  the  schools  of  the 
country.  In  the  personal  judgment  of  the  writer  all  under- 
graduate courses  should  combine  aspects  of  morphology, 
physiology,  ecology,  etc.,  rather  than  be  confined  strictly 
to  one  particular  phase;  even  histology  and  embryology 
can  be  better  taught  when  their  physiological  aspects  are 
emphasized.  There  is  no  fundamental  reason,  however, 
why  there  may  not  be  great  latitude  of  treatment  in  this 
group.  An  alluring  feature  of  biological  teaching  is  that  a 
teacher  who  has  a  vital  objective  can  begin  anywhere  in 
our  wonderful  subject  and  get  logically  to  any  point  he 
wishes.  These  courses  may  be  further  subdivided,  where 
facilities  allow. 

Third  Group 

This  group  contains  certain  of  the  more  elementary  ap- 
plications  of   biology   to   human    welfare.     While   having 


1>8 


College  Teaching 


(3)  A  third 
group    of 
special,  but 
cultural, 
courses 


The  first 
course  ought 
to  be  given 
in  such  a 
way  that 
it    might 
fittingly  be 
required  of 
all  freshmen 


practical  value  in  somewhat  specialized  vocations,  the 
courses  in  this  group  are  not  proposed  as  professional  or 
technical.  They  are  definitely  cultural.  Every  college 
might  well  give  one  or  more  of  them,  in  accordance  with 
local  conditions.  They  ought  to  be  eligible  without  the 
courses  of  the  second  group.     The  order  is  not  significant. 


Biology  3 
Biology  4 
Biology  5 
Biology  6 
Biology  7 
Biology  8 
Biology  9 


Economic  Entomology; 

Bird  Course; 

Tree  Course; 

Bacteriology  and  Fermentation; 

Biology  of  Sex;  Heredity  and  Eugenics; 

Biology  and  Education; 

Evolution  and  Theoretical  Problems. 


Place  of  Biology  in  the  College 
Curriculum 

The  introductory  course  (Biology  1)  can  be  given  in 
such  a  way  that  it  ought  to  be  required  of  all  students 
during  the  freshman  or  sophomore  year,  preferably  the 
freshman.  In  addition  to  the  life  value  suggested  above, 
and  its  introductory  value  in  later  biology  courses,  such 
a  course  would  aid  the  student  in  psychology,  sociology, 
geology,  ethics,  philosophy,  education,  domestic  economy, 
and  physical  culture.  Efi^ort  should  be  made  to  correlate 
the  biological  work  with  these  departments  of  instruction. 
The  course  as  now  given  in  most  of  our  colleges  and 
universities  does  not  possess  enough  merit  to  become  a 
required  study.  Perhaps  all  we  have  a  right  at  present  to 
ask  is  that  biology  shall  be  one  of  a  group  of  sciences 
from  which  all  students  must  elect  at  least  one.  It  is  pre- 
posterous, in  an  age  of  science,  that  any  college  should  not 
require  at  least  a  year  of  science. 

Biology  1  should  be  prerequisite  for  botany  1  and  zoology 
1,   and   for  the   special   biology  courses  in   group  three. 

Botany  1  and  zoology  1  should  be  made  prerequisite  for 
the  higher  courses  in  their  respective  fields;  but  aside  from 
this  almost  any  sequence   would  be  allowable. 


The  Teaching  of  Biology  99 

A  major  in  biology  should  provide  at  least  for  biology  1 
and  2,  botany  1,  zoology  1,  botany  2  and  3,  or  zoology,  2 
and  3.  Chemistry  is  desirable  as  a  preparation  for  the 
second  group  of  courses. 

Methods  of  Teaching  as  Conditioned  by  the 
Aims  Outlined  Above 

Since  the  laboratory  method  came  into  use  among  biol-   Acceptance 

•  *      .u  u        L  J-  •»•  •  f  •  °'    biology 

ogists,  there  has  been  a  disposition,  growing  out  of  its  very  retarded  by 
excellences,  to  make  a  fetich  of  it,  to  refuse  to  recognize  the  p"*"^  p«<^*- 
necessity  of  other  methods,  to  be  intolerant  of  any  science 
courses  not  employing  the  laboratory,  and  to  affect  a 
lofty  disdain  of  any  pedagogical  discussion  of  the  ques- 
tion whatsoever.  The  tone  in  which  all  this  is  done  sug- 
gests a  boast;  but  to  the  discriminating  it  amounts  to  a 
confession!  The  result  of  it  has  been  to  retard  the  de- 
velopment of  biology  to  its  rightful  place  as  one  of  the  most 
foundational  and  catholic  of  all  educational  fields.  The 
great  variety  of  aim  and  of  matter  not  merely  allow,  but 
make  imperative,  the  use  of  all  possible  methods;  and 
there  is  no  method  found  fruitful  in  education  which  does 
not  lend  itself  to  use  in  biology.  The  lecture  method,  the 
textbook,  the  recitation,  the  quiz  and  the  inverted  quiz, 
the  method  of  assigned  readings  and  reports,  the  method  of 
conference  and  seminar,  the  laboratory  method,  and  the 
field  method  are  all  applicable  and  needed  in  every  course, 
even  the  most  elementary. 

Our  method  has  thus  crystallized  about  the  laboratory  as  ProstituUon 
the  one  essential  thing;  but  worse,  we  have  used  the  very  ^'boratory 
shortcomings  of  the  laboratory  as  an  excuse  for  extending 
its  sway.  The  laboratory  method  is  the  method  of  research 
in  biology.  It  is  our  only  way  to  discover  unknown  facts. 
Is  it,  therefore,  the  best  way  to  rediscover  facts?  This 
does  not  necessarily  follow,  though  we  have  assumed  it. 
Self-discovered  facts  are  no  better  nor  more  true  than  com- 
municated facts,  and  it  takes  more  time  to  get  them.  The 
laboratory   is  the   slowest   possible  way  of   getting   facts. 


100 


College  Teaching 


Beal  pur- 
pose and 
possibility 
of  labora- 
tory work 


We  have  tried  to  correct  this  quantitative  difficulty  by  ex- 
tending the  laboratory  time,  by  speeding  up,  by  confining 
ourselves  to  static  types  of  facts  like  those  of  structure, 
and  by  using  detailed  laboratory  guides  for  matter  and 
method,  all  of  which  tends  to  make  the  laboratory  exer- 
cise one  of  routine  and  the  mere  observation  and  record- 
ing of  facts  or  a  verification  of  the  statements  in  manuals. 
The  correction  of  these  well-known  limitations  of  the 
laboratory  must  come,  in  my  opinion,  by  a  frank  recog- 
nition of,  and  breaking  away  from,  certain  of  our  mis- 
apprehensions about  the  function  of  the  laboratory.  Some 
of  these  are: 

1.  That  the  chief  facts  of  a  science  should  be  rediscovered 
by  the  student  in  the  laboratory.  This  is  not  true.  Life 
is  too  short.  The  great  mass  of  the  student's  facts  must 
come  from  the  instructor  and  from  books.  The  laboratory 
has  as  its  function  in  respect  to  facts,  some  very  vital 
things:  as,  making  clear  certain  classes  of  facts  which  the 
student  cannot  visualize  without  concrete  demonstration; 
giving  vividness  to  facts  in  general;  gaining  of  enough 
facts  at  first  hand  to  enable  him  to  hold  in  solution  the 
great  mass  of  facts  which  he  must  take  second  hand;  to 
give  him  skill  and  accuracy  in  observation  and  in  record- 
ing discoveries;  to  give  appreciation  of  the  way  in  which 
all  the  second-hand  facts  have  been  reached;  to  give  taste 
and  enthusiasm  for  asking  questions  and  confidence  and 
persistence  in  finding  answers  for  them.  Anything  more 
than  this  is  waste  of  time.  These  results  are  not  gained 
by  mere  quantity  of  work,  but  only  through  constant  and 
intelligent  guidance  of  the  student's  attitude  in  the  process 
of  dealing  with  facts. 

2.  A  feeling  that  the  laboratory  or  scientific  method  con- 
sists primarily  of  observation  of  facts  and  their  record. 
In  reality  these  are  three  great  steps  instead  of  one  in 
this  method,  which  the  student  of  biology  should  master: 
( 1 )  the  getting  of  facts,  one  device  for  doing  which  is 
observation;  (2)  the  appraisal  and  discrimination  of  these 
facts  to  find  which  are  important;  and    (3)    the  drawing 


The  Teaching  of  Biology  101 

of  the  conclusions  which  these  facts  seem  to  warrant.  There 
are  two  practical  corollaries  of  this  truth.  One  is  that 
the  laboratory  should  be  so  administered  that  the  pupil 
shall  appreciate  the  full  scope  of  the  scientific  method,  its 
tremendous  historic  value  to  the  race,  and  the  necessity 
of  using  all  the  steps  of  it  faithfully  in  all  future  progress 
as  well  as  in  the  sound  solution  of  our  individual  prob- 
lems and  the  guidance  of  conduct.  The  second  is  that 
we  may  make  errors  in  our  scientific  conclusions  and  in 
life  conclusions,  through  failure  to  discriminate  among 
our  facts,  quite  as  fatally  as  through  lack  of  facts.  Indeed, 
my  personal  conviction  is  that  more  failures  are  due  to 
lack  of  discrimination  than  to  lack  of  observation.  The 
power  to  weigh  evidence  is  at  least  as  important  as  the  power 
to  collect  it. 

3.  A  disposition  to  deny  the  student  the  right  to  reach 
conclusions  in  the  laboratory, —  or,  as  we  flamboyantly 
say,  to  "  generalize."  Now  in  reality  the  only  earthly  value 
of  facts  is  to  get  truth, —  that  is,  conclusions  or  general 
izations.  To  deny  this  privilege  is  taxation  without  repre 
sentation  in  respect  to  personality.  The  purpose  of  the 
laboratory  is  to  enable  students  to  think,  to  think  accu 
rately  and  with  purpose,  to  reach  their  own  conclusions 
The  getting  of  facts  by  observation  is  only  a  minor  detail 
In  reality,  the  data  the  student  can  get  from  books  are  much 
more  reliable  than  his  own  observations  are  likely  to  be 
Our  laboratory  training  should  add  gradually  to  the  accu 
racy  of  his  observations,  but  particularly  it  should  enable 
him  to  use  his  own  and  other  persons'  facts  conjointly, 
and  with  proper  discrimination,  in  reaching  conclusions. 
To  do  other  than  this  tends  to  abort  the  reasoning  atti- 
tude and  power,  and  teaches  the  pupil  to  stand  passive 
in  the  presence  of  facts  and  to  divorce  facts  and  conclu- 
sions. The  fear  is,  of  course,  that  the  students  will  get 
wrong  conclusions  and  acquire  the  habit  of  jumping  pre- 
maturely to  generalizations.  But  this  situation,  while  criti- 
cal, is  the  very  glory  of  the  method.  What  we  want  to  do 
is   to   ask   them  continually, —  wherever   possible, —  ivhere 


102  College  Teaching 

their  facts  seem  to  lead  them.  Their  conclusions  are 
liable  to  be  quite  wrong,  to  be  sure.  But  our  province  as 
teachers  is  to  see  that  the  facts  ignorance  of  which  made  this 
conclusion  wrong  are  brought  to  their  attention, —  and  it 
is  not  absolutely  material  whether  they  discover  these 
facts  themselves  or  some  one  else  does.  What  we  want 
to  compass  is  practice  in  reaching  conclusions,  and  the 
recognition  of  the  necessity  of  getting  and  discriminating 
facts  in  doing  so,  together  with  a  realization  that  there 
are  probably  many  other  facts  which  we  have  not  dis- 
covered that  would  modify  our  conclusions.  This  keeps 
the  mind  open.  In  other  words,  the  student  may  thus 
be  brought  to  realize  the  meaning  of  the  "  working  hypoth- 
esis "  and  the  method  of  approximation  to  truth.  It 
makes  no  difference  if  one  "  jumps  to  a  conclusion,"  if 
he  jumps  in  the  light  of  all  his  known  facts  and  holds 
his  conclusion  tentatively.  It  is  much  better  to  reach  wrong 
conclusions  through  inadequate  facts  than  to  have  the 
mind  come  to  a  standstill  in  the  presence  of  facts.  Instead 
of  being  a  threat,  reaching  a  wrong  conclusion  gives  us  the 
opportunity  to  train  students  in  holding  their  conclusions 
open-mindedly  and  subject  to  revision  through  new  facts. 
Reaching  wrong  or  partial  conclusions  and  correcting  them 
may  be  made  even  more  educative  than  reaching  right  ones 
at  the  outset.  This  would  not  be  true  if  the  conclusion  were 
being  sought  for  the  sake  of  the  science.  But  it  is  being 
sought  solely  for  the  sake  of  the  student.  The  distinction  is 
important.  The  inability  to  make  it  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why  research  men  so  often  fail  as  teachers. 

All  through  life  the  student  will  be  forced  to  draw  con- 
clusions from  two  types  of  facts, —  both  of  which  will  be 
incomplete:  those  he  himself  has  observed  and  those  which 
came  to  him  from  other  observers.  While  he  must  always 
feel  free  to  try  out  any  and  all  facts  for  himself,  it  is 
quite  as  important  in  practice  that  he  be  able  to  weigh 
other  persons'  facts  discriminatingly.  We  teach  in  the 
laboratory  that  the  pupil  should  not  take  his  facts  second 
hand,  though  we  rather  insist  that  he  do  so  with  his  con- 


The  Teaching  of  Biology  103 

elusions.  In  reality  it  is  often  much  better  to  take  our 
facts  second  hand;  the  stultifying  thing  is  to  take  our  con- 
clusions so. 

4.  The   dependence   upon   outlines   and   manuals.     This 
is  one  of  the  most  deadening  devices  that  we  have  insti- 
tuted to  economize  gray  matter  and  increase  the  quantity 
of  laboratory  records  at  the  expense  of  real  initiative  and 
thinking.     It  is  easy  for  the  reader  to  analyze  for  him- 
self the  mental  reaction,  or  lack  of  it,  of  the  student  in  fol- 
lowing the  usual  detailed  laboratory  outline.     Every  lahora-   ^°°™^ 
toTy  exercise  should  be  an  educative  situation  calling  for  a  mental  re- 
complete  mental  reaction  from  the  pupil.     In  the  first  place,    ly^^—     °' 
no  exercise  should  be  used  which  is  not  really  vital  and   laboratory 
educative.     This  assured,  the  full  mental  reaction  of  the     "^"^  *' 
student  should  be  about  as  follows: 

(1)  The  cursory  survey  of  the  situation. 

(2)  The  raising  by  the  student  of  such  questions  as  seem 
to  him  interesting  or  worthy  of  solution.  (Here,  of  course, 
the  teacher  can  by  skillful  questioning  lead  the  class  to 
raise  all  necessary  problems,  and  increase  the  student's 
willingness  to  attack  them.) 

(3)  The  determination  through  class  conference  of  the 
order  and  •  method  of  attacking  the  problems,  and  the 
reasons  therefor. 

(4)  The  accumulation  and  record  of  discovered  facts 
(sharply  eliminating  all   inferences). 

/5)  The  arrangement  (classification)  and  appraisal  (dis- 
crimination)  of  the  discovered  facts. 

(6)  Conclusions  or  inferences  from  the  facts.  (These 
should  be  very  sharply  and  critically  examined  by  teacher 
and  class,  to  see  to  what  extent  they  are  really  valid  and 
supported  by  the  facts.) 

(7)  Retesting  of  conclusions  by  new  facts  submitted 
by  class,  by  teacher,  or  from  books,  with  an  effort  to  dimin- 
ish prejudice  as  a  factor  in  conclusions,  and  to  increase 
the  willingness  to  approach  our  own  conclusions  with  an 
open  mind. 


104 


College  Teaching 


When  laboratory  outlines  are  used  at  all  they  should  con- 
sist merely  of  directions,  and  suggestions,  and  stimulating 
questions  which  will  start  the  pupils  on  the  main  quest, 
—  the  raising  and  solving  of  their  own  problems. 


Ascending  or 

descending 

order? 


Morphology 
versus  otber 
interests 


Some  Moot  Problems  ^ 

1.  Shall  we  begin  with  the  simple,  little-known,  lower 
forms  and  follow  the  ascending  order,  which  is  analogous 
at  least  to  the  evolutionary  order?  Or  shall  we  begin  with 
the  more  complex  but  better-known  forms  and  go  down- 
ward? It  seems  to  the  writer  that  the  former  method  has 
the  advantage  in  actual  interest;  in  its  suggestiveness  of 
evolution,  which  is  the  most  important  single  impression 
the  student  will  get  from  his  course;  and  in  the  mental 
satisfactions  that  come  to  pupil  and  teacher  alike  from 
the  sense  of  progress.  However,  our  material  is  so  rich, 
so  interesting,  and  so  plastic  that  it  makes  little  difference 
where  we  begin  if  only  we  have  a  clear  idea  of  what  we 
want  to  accomplish. 

2.  What  proportion  of  time  should  be  given  to  mor- 
phology in  relation  to  other  interests?  For  several  reasons 
morphology  has  been  overemphasized.  It  lends  itself  to 
the  older  conception  of  the  laboratory  as  a  i^ace  to  ob- 
serve and  record  facts.  It  offers  little  temptation  to  reach 
conclusions.  It  calls  for  little  use  of  gray  matter.  This 
makes  it  an  easy  laboratory  enterprise.  It  is  what  the 
grade  teachers  call  "  busy  "  work,  and  can  be  multiplied 
indefinitely.  It  can  be  made  to  smack  of  exactness  and 
thoroughness. 

Furthermore,  morphology  is  in  reality  a  basal  considera- 
tion. It  is  a  legitimate  part  of  an  introductory  course, — 
but  never  for  its  own  sake  nor  to  prepare  for  higher 
courses.  But  morphology  is,  however,  only  the  starting 
point  for  the  higher  mental  processes  by  which  different 
forms  of  organisms  are  compared,  for  the  correlating  of 
structure  with  activity,  for  appreciation  of  adaptations  of 

^  These  problems  relate  particularly  to  the  introductory  courses. 


The  Teaching  of  Biology 


105 


structure  both  to  function  and  to  environmental  influence. 
It  thus  serves  as  a  foundation  upon  which  to  build  con- 
clusions about  really  vital  matters.  Experience  teaches 
that  sensitiveness,  behavior,  and  other  activities  and  powers 
and  processes  interest  young  people  more  than  structure. 
The  student's  views  are  essentially  sound  at  this  point. 
The  introductory  course  should,  therefore,  be  a  cycle 
in  which  the  student  passes  quite  freely  back  and  forth 
between  form,  powers,  activities,  conditions  of  life,  and  the 
conclusions  as  to  the  meanings  of  these.  It  is  important 
only  that  he  shall  know  with  which  consideration  he  is  from 
time  to  time  engaged. 

3.  Shall  a  few  forms  be  studied  thoroughly,  or  many   r«w  types 
forms  be  studied  more  superficially?     There  is  something    °'™*°y 
of  value  in  each  of  these  practices.     It  is  possible  to  over- 
emphasize the   idea   of  thoroughness   in   the   introductory 
courses.     Thoroughness  is  purely  a  relative  condition  any- 
way,  since  we  cannot  really  master  any  type.     It  seems 

poor  pedagogy,  in  an  elementary  class  particularly,  to 
emphasize  small  and  difficult  forms  or  organs  because 
they  demand  more  painstaking  and  skill  on  the  part  of  the 
student.  My  own  practice  in  the  elementary  course  is  to 
have  a  very  few  specially  favorable  forms  studied  with  a 
good  deal  of  care,  and  a  much  larger  number  studied  par- 
tially, emphasizing  those  points  which  they  illustrate  very 
efi"ectively. 

4.  What  proportion  of  time  should  be  given  to  the  various   Distribution 
methods  of  work?     Manifestly  the  answer  to  this  question 
depends  upon  the  local  equipment  and  upon  the  character 

of  the  course  itself.  The  suggestion  here  relates  primarily 
to  the  general  or  introductory  courses.  It  seems  to  me 
that  a  sound  division  of  time  would  be:  two  or  three  hours 
per  week  of  class  exercises  (lectures,  recitations,  reports, 
quiz,  etc.)  demanding  not  less  than  four  hours  of  prepara- 
tion in  text  and  library  work;  and  four  to  six  hours  a 
week  .of  "  practical  "  work  with  organisms,  about  two  hours 
of  which  should  take  the  form  of  studies  in  the  field  wher- 
ever this  is  possible. 


106 


College  Teaching 


Weakness  of 
the  research 
man  as  a 
teacher  for 
the   begin- 
ning course 


Necessity,  of 
differentia- 
tion and  rec- 
ognition of 
the  two 
functions 


5.  Is  the  "  research  "  man  the  best  teacher  for  the  in- 
troductory courses?  In  spite  of  a  good  deal  of  prejudg- 
ment on  the  part  of  college  and  university  administrators 
and  of  the  research  biologists  themselves,  I  am  convinced 
he  is  not.  While  there  are  notable  exceptions,  my  own 
observation  is  that  the  investigator,  whether  the  head  pro- 
fessor or  the  "  teaching  fellow,"  usually  does  not  have  the 
mental  attitude  that  makes  a  successful  teacher,  at  least  of 
elementary  classes, —  and  for  these  reasons:  he  begrudges 
the  time  spent  in  teaching  elementary  classes,  presents  the 
subject  as  primarily  preparatory  to  upper  courses,  sub- 
ordinates the  human  elements  to  the  scientific  elements,  and 
actually  exploits  the  class  in  the  interest  of  research.  The 
real  teacher's  question  about  an  entering  class  is  this: 
"  How  can  I  best  use  the  materials  of  our  science  to  make 
real  men  and  women  out  of  these  people?  "  The  question 
of  the  professional  investigator  is  likely  to  be:  "How  many 
of  these  people  are  fit  to  become  investigators,  and  how 
can  I  most  surely  find  them  and  interest  them  in  the 
science?  "  This  is  a  perfectly  fine  and  legitimate  question; 
but  it  is  not  an  appropriate  one  until  the  first  one  has  been 
answered.  It  has  been  assumed  that  the  answers  to  the 
two  questions  are  identical.  This  is  one  of  the  most  vicious 
assumptions  in  higher  education  today,  in  my  opinion. 
Furthermore,  the  investigator  with  his  interests  centering 
at  the  margins  of  the  unknown  cannot  use  the  scientific 
method  as  a  teacher,  whose  interest  must  center  in  the 
pupil.  The  points  of  view  are  not  merely  not  identical; 
they   are   incompatible. 

Experience  indicates  the  wisdom  of  having  all  beginning 
courses  in  biology  in  colleges  and  universities  given  by 
teachers  and  not  by  investigators,  mature  or  immature. 
All  people  who  propose  to  teach  biology  in  the  high  schools 
should  have  their  early  courses  given  from  this  human 
point  of  view,  that  they  may  be  the  better  able  to  come 
back  to  it  after  their  graduate  work,  in  their  efforts  to 
organize  courses  for  pupils  the  greater  part  of  whom  will 
never   have   any   but   a   life  interest   in   the  subject.     The 


The  Teaching  of  Biology 


107 


problem  of  presenting  the  advanced  and  special  courses  is 
relatively  an  easy  one.  The  investigator  is  the  best  possible 
teacher  for  advanced  students  in  his  own  special  field  if 
he  is  endowed  with  any  common  sense  at  all. 


Tests  of  Effectiveness  of  Teaching 

As  yet  we  are  notably  lacking  in  regard  to  the  measure- 
ment of  progress  as  the  result  of  our  teaching.  Our  usual 
tests  —  examination,  recitation,  quiz,  reports,  laboratory 
notebooks  —  evaluate  in  a  measure  work  done,  knowledge 
or  general  grasp  acquired,  and  accuracy  developed.  We 
need,  however,  measurements  of  skill,  of  habits,  and  of  the 
still  more  intangible  attitudes  and  appreciations.  These 
may  be  gained  in  part  by  furnishing  really  educative  situa- 
tions and  observing  the  time  and  character  of  the  student's 
reaction.  Every  true  teacher  is  in  reality  an  experimental 
psychologist,  and  must  apply  directly  the  methods  of  the 
psychologist. 

The  laboratory  and  field  furnish  opportunity  for  this 
sort  of  testing.  The  student  may  be  confronted  with  an  un- 
familiar organism  or  situation  and  be  given  a  limited 
time  in  which  to  obtain  and  record  his  results.  He  may  found 
be  asked  to  state  and  enumerate  the  problems  that  are 
suggested  by  the  situation;  outline  a  method  of  solving 
them;  discover  as  large  a  body  of  facts  as  possible;  ar- 
range them  in  an  order  that  seems  to  him  logical,  with 
his  reasons;  and  to  make  whatever  inferences  seem  to  him 
sound  in  the  light  of  facts, —  supporting  his  conclusions  at 
every  point.  The  ability  to  make  such  a  total  mental  re- 
action promptly  and  comprehendingly  is  the  best  test  of  any 
teaching  whatsoever.  The  important  thing  is  that  we  shall 
not  ourselves  lose  sight  of  the  essential  parts  of  it  in  our 
enthusiasm  for  one  portion  of  it. 

In  judging  attitude  and  appreciation  I  think  it  is  pos- 
sible for  discriminating  teachers  to  obtain  the  testimony 
of  the  pupil  himself  in  appraisal  of  his  own  progress  and 
attitude.     This   needs   to   be   done   indirectly,   to    be  sure. 


More  ylUl 
tegts  of  re- 
salts  of 
teaching 
mnst  be 


108 


College  Teaching 


The  student's  self -judgment  may  not  be  accurate;  but  it  is 
not  at  all  impossible  to  secure  a  disposition  in  students 
to  measure  and  estimate  their  own  progress  in  these  various 
things  with  some  accuracy  and  fairness  of  mind.  Besides 
its  incidental  value  as  a  test,  I  know  of  no  realm  of 
biological  observation,  discrimination,  and  conclusion  more 
likely  to  prove  profitable  to  the  student  than  this  effort  to 
estimate,  without  prejudice,  his  own  growth. 


Scarcity  of 
authoritative 
pedagogical 
literature  in 
biology 


The  Literature  of  the  Subject 

For  various  reasons  very  little  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  pedagogy  of  college  biology  by  those  in  the  best 
position  to  throw  light  upon  this  vital  problem.  More  in- 
formation as  to  the  attitude  of  teachers  of  the  subject  is 
to  be  derived  from  college  and  university  catalogs  than 
elsewhere, —  howbeit  of  a  somewhat  stereotyped  and 
standardized  kind.  Much  more  has  been  written  relative 
to  the  teaching  of  biology  in  the  secondary  schools.  In  my 
opinion  the  most  effective  teaching  of  biology  in  America 
today  is  being  done  in  the  best  high  schools  by  teachers 
who  have  been  forced  to  acquire  a  pedagogical  background 
that  would  enable  them  to  reconstruct  completely  their 
presentation  of  the  subject.  Most  of  these  people  obtained 
very  little  help  in  this  task  from  their  college  courses  in 
biology.  For  these  reasons  every  college  teacher  will 
greatly  profit  by  studying  what  has  been  written  for  the 
secondary  teachers.  School  Science  and  Mathematics 
(Chicago)  is  the  best  source  for  current  views  in  this  field. 
Its  files  will  show  no  little  of  the  best  thought  and  investiga- 
tion that  have  been  devoted  to  the  principles  underlying  in- 
struction in  biology.  Lloyd  and  Bigelow,  in  The  Teaching 
of  Biology  (Longmans,  Green  &  Co.),  have  treated  the  prob- 
lems of  secondary  biology  at  length.  Ganong's  Teaching 
Botanist  (The  Macmillan  Company)  has  high  value. 

The  authors  of  textbooks  of  biology,  botany,  and  zoology 
issued  during  the  last  ten  years  have  ventured  to  develop: 
in  their  prefaces,  appendices,  and  elsewhere,  their  peda- 


The  Teaching  of  Biology  109 

gogical  points  of  view.  The  writer  has  personal  knowl- 
edge that  teaching  suggestions  are  still  resented  by  some 
college  teachers  of  zoology.  Illustrations  of  the  tendency 
to  incorporate  pedagogical  material  in  textbooks  on 
biological  subjects  can  be  found  in 

DoDCE,  C.  W.     Practical  Biology.     Harper  and  Brothers,  1894. 
Gacer,  C.  S.     Fundamentals  of  Botany.     P.  Blakiston's  Son  &  Co., 

1916. 
Galloway,  T.  W.     Textbook  of  Zoology.    P.  Blakiston's  Son  &  Co., 

1915. 
KiNCSLEY,  J.  S.     Textbook  of  Vertebrate  Zoology.     H.  Holt  &  Co. 
Petrunkevitch,   a.     Morphology  of  Invertebrate   Types.     The  Mac- 

millan  Company,  1916. 

T.  W.  Galloway 

Beloit  College 


Bibliography 

Cramer,  F.  Logical  Method  in  Biology.  Popular  Science  Monthly, 
Vol.  44,  page  372.     1894. 

Farlow,  W.  G.  Biological  Teaching  in  Colleges.  Popular  Science 
Monthly,  Vol.  28,  page  581.     1886. 

Harvey,  N.  A.  Pedagogical  Content  of  Zoology.  Proceedings  Na- 
tional Education  Association,  1899;  page  1106. 

Hodce,  C.  F.     Dynamic  Biology.     Pedagogical  Seminar,  Vols.  11-12. 

Huxley,  J.  H.  Educational  Value  of  Natural  History  Science.  Essay 
II,  Science  and  Education,  1854. 

Rusk,  R.  R.  Introduction  to  Experimental  Education.  Longmans, 
Green  &  Co.,  1912. 

Saunders,  S.  J.  Value  of  Research  in  Education.  School  Science 
and  Mathematics,  Vol.  11,  March.  1902. 

Smallwood,  W.  M.  Biology  as  a  Culture  Study.  Journal  of  Peda- 
gogy, Vol.  17,  page  231. 

Welton,  J.  Psychology  of  Education  (chapter  on  "Character"). 
The  Macmillan  Comptmy,  1911. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CHEMISTRY 


Preparation 
of  entering 
students  a 
determining 
factor 


SOME  of  the  students  entering  classes  in  chemistry  in 
college  have  already  had  an  elementary  course  in  the 
subject  in  the  high  school  or  academy,  while  others  have 
not.  Again,  some  study  chemistry  in  college  merely  for  the 
sake  of  general  information  and  culture,  while  many  others 
pursue  the  subject  because  the  vocation  they  are  planning 
to  make  their  life's  work  requires  a  more  or  less  extensive 
knowledge  of  chemistry.  Thus,  all  students  in  the  natural 
sciences  and  their  applications  —  as  we  have  them  in 
medicine,  engineering,  agriculture,  and  home  economics  — 
as  well  as  those  who  are  training  to  become  professional 
chemists,  either  in  the  arts  and  industries  or  in  teaching, 
must  devote  a  considerable  amount  of  time  and  energy 
to  the  study  of  chemistry.  The  teacher  of  college  chemistry 
consequently  must  take  into  consideration  the  preparation 
with  which  the  student  enters  his  classes  and  also  the  end 
which  is  to  be  attained  by  the  pursuit  of  the  subject  in  the 
case  of  the  various  groups  of  students  mentioned. 

In  the  larger  high  schools  courses  in  chemistry  are  now 
quite  generally  oflFered,  but  this  is  not  yet  true  of  the  smaller 
schools.  In  some  colleges  those  who  have  had  high  school 
chemistry  are  at  once  placed  into  advanced  work  without 
taking  the  usual  basal  course  in  general  chemistry  which  is 
so  arranged  that  students  can  enter  it  who  have  had  no 
previous  knowledge  of  the  subject.  In  other  words,  in  some 
cases  the  college  builds  directly  upon  the  high  school  course 
in  chemistry.  As  a  rule,  however,  this  does  not  prove  very 
successful,  for  the  high  school  course  in  chemistry  is  not 
primarily  designed  as  a  course  upon  which  advanced  college 
chemistry  can  be  founded.  This  is  as  it  should  be,  for 
after  all,  while  the  high  school  prepares  students  for  college, 
its  chief  purpose  is  to  act  as  a  finishing  school  for  tho?e 
larger  numbers  of  students  who  never  go  to  college.     The 

110 


The  Teaching  of  Chemistry  111 

high  school  course  in  chemistry  is  consequently  properly 
designed  to  give  certain  important  chemical  facts  and  point 
out  their  more  immediate  applications  in  the  ordinary  walks 
of  life,  as  far  as  this  can  properly  be  done  in  the  allotted 
time  with  a  student  of  high  school  age  and  maturity.  The 
result  is  consequently  that  while  such  work  can  very  well 
be  accepted  toward  satisfying  college  entrance  requirements, 
it  is  only  rarely  sufficient  as  a  basis  for  advanced  college 
courses  in  the  subject.  As  a  rule  it  is  best  to  ask  all 
students  to  take  the  basal  course  in  general  chemistry 
offered  in  college,  arranging  somewhat  more  advanced  ex- 
periments in  the  laboratory  wherever  necessary  for  those 
who  have  had  chemistry  in  preparatory  schools.  This  has 
become  the  writer's  practice  after  careful  trial  of  other 
expedients.  The  scheme  has  on  the  whole  worked  out 
fairly  well,  for  it  is  sufficiently  elastic  to  meet  the  needs 
of  the  individual  students,  who  naturally  come  with 
preparation  that  is  quite  varied.  Almost  invariably 
students  who,  on  account  of  their  course  in  high  school 
chemistry,  are  excused  from  the  general  basal  course  in 
college  chemistry  have  been  handicapped  forever  after- 
ward in  their  advanced  work  in  the  subject. 

The  first  year's  work  in  college  chemistry  consists  of    Organization 
general   chemistry.     It   is   basal   for   all   work  that   is   to   course  — 
follow,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  it  is  a  finished  course,    ^^"*j*L 
giving  a  well-rounded  survey  of  the  subject  to  all  who  do 
not  care  to  pursue  it  further.     This  basal  course  is  com- 
monly given  in  the  freshman  year,  though  sometimes  it  is 
deferred  to  the  sophomore  year.     Its  content  is  now  fairly 
uniform  in  different  colleges,  the  first  semester  being  com- 
monly devoted  to  general  fundamental  considerations  and 
the  chemistry  of  the  non-metals,  while  the  metals  receive 
attention  in  the  second  semester,  the  elements  of  qualitative 
analysis  being  in  some  cases  taught  in  connection  with  the 
chemistry  of  the  metals. 

The  work  is  almost  universally  conducted  by  means  of 
lectures,  laboratory  work,  and  recitations.  The  lectures 
have  the  purpose  to  unfold  the  subject,  give  general  orienta- 


112  College  Teaching 

tion  as  to  the  most  important  fundamental  topics  and 
points  of  view,  and  furnish  impetus,  guidance,  and  in- 
spiration for  laboratory  study  and  reading.  To  this  end 
the  lectures  should  be  illustrated  by  means  of  carefully 
chosen  and  well-prepared  experiments.  These  serve  not 
only  to  illustrate  typical  chemical  processes,  and  funda- 
mental laws,  but  they  also  stimulate  interest  and  teach  the 
student  many  valuable  points  of  manipulation,  for  it  is 
well-nigh  impossible  to  watch  an  expert  manipulator  with- 
out absorbing  valuable  hints  on  the  building  up,  arranging, 
and  handling  of  apparatus.  In  the  lectures  the  material 
should  be  presented  slowly,  carefully,  and  clearly,  so  that 
it  may  readily  be  followed  by  the  student.  Facts  should 
always  be  placed  in  the  foreground,  and  they  should  be 
made  the  basis  of  the  generalization  we  call  laws,  and  then 
the  latter  naturally  lead  to  theoretical  conceptions.  It 
is  a  great  mistake  to  begin  with  the  atomic  theory  practi- 
cally the  first  day  and  try  to  bolster  up  that  theory  with 
facts  later  on  as  concrete  cases  of  chemical  action  are 
studied.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  also  quite  unwise  to 
defer  the  introduction  of  theoretical  conceptions  too  long, 
for  the  atomic  theory  is  a  great  aid  in  making  rapid  pro- 
gress in  the  study  of  chemistry.  At  least  two  or  three 
weeks  are  well  spent  in  studying  fundamental  chemical  re- 
actions as  facts  quite  independent  of  any  theories  whatso- 
ever, in  order  that  the  student  may  thorougMy  appreciate 
the  nature  of  chemical  change  and  becffiwR^miliar  with 
enough  characteristic  and  typical  cases  of  chemical  action 
so  that  the  general  laws  of  chemical  com|)ination  by  weight 
and  by  volume  may  be  logically  deduced  and  the  atomic 
and  molecular  theories  presented  as  based  upon  those  laws. 
Up  to  this  stage  the  reactions  should  be  written  out  in 
words  and  all  formulation  should  be  avoided,  so  that  the 
student  will  not  get  the  idea  that  "  chemistry  is  the  science 
of  signs  and  symbols,"  or  that  "  chemistry  is  a  hypotheti- 
cal science,"  but  that  he  will  feel  that  chemistry  deals  with 
certain  very  definite,  characteristic,  and  fundamental 
changes  of  matter  in  which  new   substances  are  formed, 


The  Teaching  of  Chemistry  113 

and  that  these  processes  always  go  on  in  accordance  with 
fixed  and  invariable  laws,  though  they  are  influenced  by 
conditions  of  temperature,  pressure,  light,  electricity,  and 
the  presence  of  other  substances  in  larger  or  smaller 
amounts.  The  theory  and  formulation  when  properly  in- 
troduced should  be  an  aid  to  the  student,  leading  him  to  see 
that  the  expression  of  chemical  facts  is  simplified  thereby. 
Thus  he  will  never  make  the  error  of  regarding  the  symbol 
as  the  fundamental  thing,  but  he  will  from  the  very  out- 
set look  upon  it  simply  as  a  useful  form  of  shorthand 
expression,  as  it  were,  which  is  also  a  great  aid  in  chemical 
thinking.  Facts  and  theories  should  ever  be  kept  dis- 
tinct and  separate  in  the  student's  mind,  if  he  is  to  make 
real  progress  in  the  science. 

A  thoroughgoing,  logical  presentation  of  the  subject, 
leading  the  student  slowly  and  with  a  sense  of  perfect 
comprehension  into  the  deeper  and  more  difficult  phases, 
should  constitute  one  of  the  prime  features  of  the  work  of 
the  first  year.  Interest  should  constantly  be  stimulated  by 
references  to  the  historical  development  of  the  subject, 
to  the  practical  applications  in  the  arts  and  industries, 
to  sanitation  and  the  treatment  of  disease,  to  the  providing 
of  proper  food,  clothing,  fuel,  and  shelter,  to  the  prob- 
lems of  transportation  and  communication,  to  the  chemical 
changes  that  are  constantly  going  on  in  the  atmosphere, 
the  waters,  an^  the  crust  of  the  earth  as  well  as  in  all 
living  beings.  Nevertheless,  all  the  time  the  science  should 
be  taught  as  the  backbone  of  the  entire  course.  The  allu- 
sions to  history  and  the  manifold  applications  to  daily 
life  are  indeed  very  important,  but  they  must  never  obscure 
the  science  itself,  for  only  thus  can  a  thorough  compre-  • 
hension  of  chemistry  be  imparted  and  the  benefits  of  the 
mental  drill  and  culture  be  vouchsafed  to  the  student. 

For  the  freshman  and  sophomore,  two  lectures  per  week   Methods  of 

*  '  *^  t6&chinK 

are  sufficient  for  this  type  of  instruction.     In  these  exercises   The  Lecture 
the  student  should  give  his  undivided  attention  to  what  is   ™«thod 
presented  by  the  lecturer.     The  taking  of  notes  is  to  be 
discouraged  rather  than  encouraged,  for  it  results  in  divid- 


114  College  Teaching 

ing  the  attention  between  what  is  presented  and  the 
mechanical  work  of  writing.  To  take  the  place  of  the 
usual  lecture  notes,  students  of  this  grade  had  better  be 
provided  with  a  suitable  text,  definite  chapters  in  which 
are  assigned  for  reading  in  connection  with  each  lecture. 
The  text  thus  serves  for  purposes  of  review,  and  also  as  a 
means  for  inculcating  additional  details  which  cannot  to 
advantage  be  presented  in  a  lecture,  but  are  best  studied  at 
home  by  perusing  a  book,  the  contents  of  which  have  been 
illuminated  by  the  experimental  demonstrations,  the  ex- 
planations on  the  blackboard,  the  charts,  lantern  slides,  and 
above  all  the  living  development  and  presentation  of  the 
subject  by  the  lecturer.  The  lectures  should  in  no  case 
be  conducted  primarily  as  an  exercise  in  dictation  and 
note  taking.  If  the  lectures  do  not  give  general  orienta- 
tion, illumination,  and  inspiration  for  further  study  in 
laboratory  and  library,  they  are  an  absolute  failure  and 
had  better  be  omitted  entirely.  Oil  the  other  hand,  when 
properly  conducted  the  lectures  are  the  very  life  of  the 
course. 
The  The    laboratory    work   should    be    well    correlated    with 

work  the    lectures,    especially   during   the    first    year.     The   ex- 

periments to  be  performed  by  the  student  should  be  care- 
fully chosen  and  should  not  be  a  mere  repetition  of  the 
lecture  demonstrations.  The  laboratory  experiments 
should  be  both  qualitative  and  quantitative  in  character 
They  should  on  the  one  hand  illustrate  the  peculiar  prop- 
erties of  the  substances  studied  and  the  typical  concomitant 
changes  of  chemical  action,  but  on  the  other  hand  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  quantitative  exercises  in  the  laboratory 
should  be  introduced  to  bring  home  to  the  student  the 
laws  of  combining  weights  and  volumes,  thus  giving  him 
the  idea  that  chemistry  is  exact  and  that  quantitative  rela- 
tions always  obtain  when  chemical  action  takes  place.  At 
the  same  time  the  quantitative  exercises  lay  the  basis  foi 
the  proper  comprehension  of  the  laws  of  combining  weights 
and  volumes  and  the  atomic  and  molecular  theories.  At 
least  three  periods  of  two  consecutive  hours  each  should 


The  Teaching  of  Chemistry  115 

be  spent  in  the  laboratory  per  week,  and  the  laboratory 
exercises  should  be  made  so  interesting  and  instructive 
that  the  student  will  feel  inclined  to  work  in  the  laboratory 
at  odd  times  in  addition  if  his  program  of  other  studies 
permits.  The  laboratory  should  at  all  times  be,  as  its  name 
implies,  a  place  where  work  is  done.  Order  and  neatness 
should  always  prevail.  Apparatus  should  be  kept  neat 
and  clean,  and  in  no  case  should  slovenly  habits  of  setting 
up  apparatus  be  tolerated.  The  early  introduction  of  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  quantitative  experimentation  in  the  course 
makes  for  habits  of  order  and  neatness  in  experimentation 
and  guards  against  bringing  up  "  sloppy  "  chemists. 

The  laboratory  notebook  should  be  a  neat  and  accurate 
record  of  the  work  in  the  laboratory.  To  this  end  the  en- 
tries in  the  notebook  should  be  made  in  the  laboratory  at 
the  time  when  the  experiment  is  actually  being  performed. 
The  writing  of  data  on  loose  scratch  paper  and  then  finally 
writing  up  the  notebook  later  at  home  from  such  sheets 
is  not  to  be  recommended,  for  while  thus  the  final  appear- 
ance of  the  notebook  may  be  improved,  it  is  no  longer  a 
first-hand  record  such  as  every  scientist  makes,  but  rather 
a  transcribed  one.  The  student,  in  making  up  such  a 
transcription,  is  only  too  apt  to  draw  upon  his  inner  con- 
sciousness to  make  the  book  appear  better;  indeed,  when 
he  has  neglected  to  transcribe  his  notes  for  several  days, 
he  is  bound  to  produce  anything  but  a  true  and  accurate 
record,  to  say  nothing  about  being  put  to  the  temptation 
to  "  fake  "  results  which  he  has  either  not  at  all  obtained 
in  the  laboratory,  or  has  recorded  so  imperfectly  on  the 
scratch  paper  that  he  can  no  longer  interpret  his  record 
properly.  The  only  true  way  is  to  have  the  notes  made 
directly  in  the  permanently  bound  notebook  at  the  time 
when  the  experiment  is  actually  in  progress.  The  student 
ought  not  to  take  the  laboratory  notebook  home  at  all  with- 
out the  instructor's  knowledge  and  permission.  Each 
experiment  should  be  entered  in  the  notebook  in  a  brief, 
businesslike  manner.  Long-winded,  superfluous  discus- 
sions   should    be    avoided.     As    a    rule,    drawings    of   ap- 


116  College  Teaching 

paratus  in  the  notes  are  unnecessary,  it  being  sufficient  to 
indicate  that  the  apparatus  was  set  up  according  to  Figure 
so-and-so  in  the  laboratory  manual  or  according  to  the  di- 
rections given  on  page  so-and-so.  The  student  should  be 
made  to  feel  that  the  laboratory  is  the  place  where  careful, 
purposeful  experimentation  is  to  be  done,  that  this  is  the 
jnain  object  of  the  laboratory  work,  and  that  the  note- 
book is  merely  a  reliable  record  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished. To  this  end  the  data  in  the  notebook  should  be 
The  complete,   yet  brief  and   to   the   point,   so   that   what   has 

uboratory       been  done  can  be  looked  up  again  and  that  the  instructor 
record  may  know  that  the  experiment  has  been  performed  prop- 

erly, that  its  purpose  was  understood  by  the  student,  and 
that  he  has  made  correct  observations  and  drawn  logical 
conclusions  therefrom.  While  in  each  case  the  notes 
should  indicate  the  purpose  of  the  experiment,  what  has 
actually  been  done  and  observed,  and  the  final  conclusions, 
it  is  on  the  whole  best  not  to  have  a  general  cut-and-dried 
formula  according  to  which  each  and  every  experiment  is 
to  be  recorded.  It  is  better  to  encourage  a  certain  degree 
of  individuality  in  this  matter  on  the  part  of  each  student. 
Notebooks  should  be  corrected  by  the  teacher  every  week, 
•and  the  student  should  be  asked  to  correct  all  errors  which 
the  teacher  has  indicated.  A  businesslike  atmosphere 
should  prevail  in  the  laboratory  at  all  times,  and  this 
should  be  reflected  in  the  notebooks.  Anythina;  that  savors 
of  the  pedantic  is  to  be  strictly  avoided.  Small  black- 
boards should  be  conveniently  placed  in  the  laboratory 
so  that  the  instructor  may  use  them  in  explaining  any  points 
that  may  arise.  Usually  the  same  question  arises  with 
several  members  of  the  class,  and  a  few  moments  of 
explanation  before  the  blackboard  enable  the  instructor 
to  clear  up  the  points  raised.  This  not  only  saves  the 
instructor's  time,  but  it  also  stimulates  interest  in  the 
laboratory  when  explanations  are  thus  given  to  small 
groups  just  when  the  question  is  hot. 

It  is,  of  course,  assumed  that  the  necessary  amount  of 
apparatus,  chemicals,  and  other  supplies  is  available,  and 


The  Teaching  of  Chemistry  117 

that  the  laboratory  desks,  proper  ventilation  of  the  rooms, 
and  safeguards  in  the  case  of  all  experiments  fraught  with 
danger  have  received  the  necessary  painstaking  attention 
on  the  part  of  the  instructor,  who  must  never  for  a  moment 
relax  in  looking  after  these  matters,  which  it  is  not  the 
purpose  to  discuss  here.  At  all  times  the  student  should 
work  intelligently  and  be  fully  aware  of  any  dangers  that 
are  inherent  in  what  he  is  doing.  It  need  hardly  be  said 
that  a  beginner  should  not  be  set  at  experiments  that  are 
specially  dangerous.  Having  been  given  proper  direc- 
tions, the  student  should  be  taught  to  go  ahead  with  con- 
fidence, for  working  in  constant  trepidation  that  an  acci- 
dent may  occur  often  creates  a  nervous  state  that  brings 
about  the  accident.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid 
upon  proper,  definite  laboratory  instructions,  especially 
as  to  kinds  and  amounts  of  materials  to  be  used.  Such 
directions  as  "  take  a  little  phosphorus,"  for  example, 
should  be  strictly  avoided,  for  the  direction  as  to  amount 
is  absolutely  indefinite  and  may  in  the  case  where  phos- 
phorus or  any  other  dangerous  substance  is  used  lead  to 
dire  accidents.  The  student  should  be  given  proper  and 
very  definite  directions,  and  then  he  should  be  taught  to 
follow  these  absolutely  and  not  use  more  of  the  materials 
than  is  specified,  as  the  beginner  is  so  apt  to  do,  thus  often 
wasting  his  time  and  the  reagents  as  well.  Economy  and 
the  correct  use  of  all  laboratory  supplies  should  be  in- 
culcated indirectly  all  the  time.  A  fixed  set  of  printed 
rules  for  the  laboratory  is  generally  neither  necessary  nor 
desirable  when  students  are  properly  directed  to  work  in- 
telligently as  they  go,  and  good  directions  are  given  in 
the  laboratory  manual.  Thus  a  spirit  of  doing  intelligently 
what  is  right  and  proper,  guarding  against  accidents, 
economizing  in  time  and  materials  of  all  kinds  will  soon 
become  dominant  in  the  laboratory  and  will  greatly  add 
to  the  efficiency  of  the  workers.  Minor  accidents  are  almost 
bound  to  occur  at  times  in  spile  of  all  precautions,  and 
the  instructor  should  be  ready  to  cope  with  these  promptly 
by  means  of  a  properly  supplied  first-aid  kit. 


118  College  Teaching 

EecitaUons  For  students  of  the  first  year  quizzes  or  recitations  should 

an  qu  zes  ^^  [ie\^  at  least  twice  a  week.  In  these  exercises  the  ground 
covered  in  the  lectures  and  laboratory  work  should  be 
carefully  and  systematically  reviewed.  The  quiz  classes 
should  not  be  too  large.  Twenty-five  students  is  the  upper 
limit  for  a  quiz  section.  The  laboratory  sections  too 
should  not  be  larger  than  this,  and  it  is  highly  desirable 
that  the  same  instructor  conduct  both  the  recitation  and 
the  immediate  laboratory  supervision  of  the  student. 
Lecture  classes  can,  of  course,  be  very  much  larger  in 
number.  In  most  colleges  the  attendance  upon  classes  in 
chemistry  is  so  large  that  it  is  not  possible  for  the  professor 
to  deliver  the  lectures  and  also  personally  conduct  all 
of  the  laboratory  work  and  recitations.  It  is  consequently 
necessary  to  divide  the  class  up  into  small  sections  for 
laboratory  and  quiz  purposes.  It  is  highly  desirable  that 
the  student  become  well  acquainted  with  his  individual  in- 
structor in  laboratory  and  quiz  work,  and  therefore  it  would 
be  unfortunate  to  have  one  instructor  in  the  laboratory  and 
still  another  instructor  in  the  quiz.  It  might  be  argued 
that  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have  the  student  become  acquainted 
with  a  number  of  instructors,  but  in  the  writer's  experience 
such  practice  results  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  student, 
and  is  consequently  not  to  be  recommended. 

In  the  recitations  the  student  is  to  be  encouraged  to  do 
the  talking.  He  is  to  be  given  an  opportunity  to  ask  ques- 
tions as  well  as  to  answer  the  queries  put  by  the  teacher. 
Short  written  exercises  of  about  ten  minutes'  duration  can 
be  given  to  advantage  in  each  of  these  recitations.  In 
this  way  the  entire  class  writes  upon  a  well-chosen  ques- 
tion or  solves  a  numerical  chemical  problem  and  thus  a 
great  deal  of  time  is  saved.  The  quiz  room  should  be  well 
provided  with  blackboards  which  may  be  used  to  great 
advantage  in  the  writing  of  equations  and  the  solution  of 
chemical  problems  just  as  in  a  class  in  mathematics;  The 
textbook,  from  which  readings  are  assigned  to  the  student 
in  connection  with  the  lectures,  should  contain  questions 
which   recapitulate   the  contents   of  each   chapter.     When 


The  Teaching  of  Chemistry  119 

such  questions  are  not  contained  in  the  book,  they  ought 
to  be  provided  by  the  teacher  on  printed  or  mimeographed 
sheets.  When  properly  conducted,  the  recitation  aids 
greatly  in  clarifying,  arranging  and  fixing  the  important 
points  of  the  course  in  the  mind  of  the  student.  Young 
instructors  are  apt  to  make  the  mistake  of  doing  too  much 
talking  in  the  quiz,  instead  of  encouraging  the  student  to 
express  his  views.  In  these  days,  when  foreign  languages 
and  mathematics  are  more  or  less  on  the  wane  in  colleges, 
the  proper  study  of  chemistry,  particularly  in  the  well- 
conducted  quiz,  will  go  far  toward  supplying  the  mental 
drill  which  the  older  subjects  have  always  afforded. 

If  the  work  of  the  first  year  has  been  properly  con-  Summary 
ducted,  it  will  have  given  the  student  a  general  view  of  the  course^*" 
whole  field  of  chemistry,  together  with  a  sufficient  amount 
of  detail  so  securely  anchored  in  careful  laboratory  work 
and  practical  experience  as  to  form  a  basis  for  either  more 
advanced  work  in  chemical  lines  or  in  the  pursuance  of  the 
vocations  already  mentioned  in  which  a  knowledge  of 
chemistry  is  basal.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  if  well 
taught,  the  student  will  at  the  end  of  such  a  course  have  a 
desire  for  more  chemistry. 

The   work  of  the  second   year  of  chemistry  in  college   Organiza- 
generally  consists  of  quantitative  analysis,  though  the  more   second-year 
intensive  study   of  the   compounds   of  carbon,   known   as   course 
organic    chemistry,    is    also    frequently    taken    up    at   this 
time,  and  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  such  prac- 
tice. 

In  the  quantitative  analysis,  habits  of  neatness  and  ac-   Content  of 
curacy  must  be  insisted  upon.     It  is  well  to  give  the  gen-   inquantita- 
eral  orientation  and  directions  by  means  of  lectures.     One   tive  analysis 
or  two  such  exercises  per  week  will  suffice.     There  should 
also  be  recitations.     When  two  lectures  per  week  are  given, 
it  will  suffice  to  review  the  work  with  the  student  in  con- 
nection with  such   lectures,  provided  the  class  is  not  too 
large  for  quiz  purposes.     Intelligent  work  should  charac- 
terize a  course  in  quantitative  analysis.     To  this  end  the 
student  should  be  taught  how  to  take  proper  representa- 


120  College  Teaching 

live  samples  of  the  material  to  be  analyzed.  He  should 
then  be  taught  how  to  weigh  or  measure  out  that  sample 
with  proper  care.  The  manipulations  of  the  analytical 
process  should  be  carried  out  so  that  each  step  is  properly 
understood  and  its  relations  to  the  general  laws  of  chem- 
istry are  constantly  before  the  mind.  In  carrying  out  the 
process,  the  various  sources  of  error  must  be  thoroughly 
appreciated  and  guarded  against.  The  final  weighing  or 
measuring  of  the  form  in  which  the  ingredient  sought  is 
estimated  should  again  be  carried  out  with  care,  and  in 
the  calculation  of  the  percentage  content  due  regard  should 
be  had  for  the  limits  of  error  of  experimentation  through- 
out the  entire  analytical  process.  The  student  feels  that  a 
large  number  of  the  exercises  in  quantitative  analysis  are 
virtually  cases  of  making  chemical  preparations  of  the 
highest  possible  purity,  thus  connecting  his  previous  chem- 
ical experience  with  his  quantitative  work.  The  course  in 
quantitative  analysis  should  cover  the  determination  of  the 
more  important  basic  and  acid  radicals,  and  should  con- 
sist of  both  gravimetric  and  volumetric  exercises. 

The  choice  of  the  exercises  is  of  great  importance.  It 
may  vary,  and  should  vary  considerably  in  different  cases. 
Thus  a  student  in  agriculture  is  naturally  interested  in  the 
methods  of  estimating  lime,  phosphorus,  nitrogen,  potash, 
silica,  sulphur,  etc.,  whereas  a  student  in  engineering  would 
be  more  interested  in  work  with  the  heavy  metals  and  the 
ingredients  which  the  commercial  samples  of  such  metals 
are  apt  to  contain.  Thus,  analytical  work  on  solder,  bear- 
ing metal,  iron  and  steel,  cement,  etc.,  should  be  introduced 
as  soon  as  the  student  in  engineering  is  ready  for  it.  It 
is  quite  possible  to  inculcate  the  principles  of  quantita- 
tive analysis  by  selecting  exercises  in  which  the  individual 
student  is  interested,  though,  to  be  sure,  certain  fundamental 
things  would  naturally  have  to  be  taken  by  all  students,  what- 
ever be  the  line  for  which  they  are  training.  A  few  exercises 
in  gas  analysis  and  also  water  analysis  should  be  given  in 
every  good  course  in  quantitative  analysis  that  occupies  an 
entire  year.     Careful  attention  should  be  given  to  the  note- 


The  Teaching  of  Chemistry  121 

book  in  the  quantitative  work,  and  the  student  should  also  be 
made  to  feel  that  in  modern  quantitative  analysis  not  only 
balances  and  burettes  are  to  serve  as  the  measuring  instru- 
ments, but  that  the  polariscope  and  the  refractometer  also 
are  very  important,  and  that  at  times  still  other  physical 
instruments  like  the  spectroscope,  the  electrometer,  and  the 
viscometer  may  prove  very  useful  indeed. 

The  quantitative  analysis  offers  a  splendid  opportunity 
for  bringing  home  to  the  student  what  he  has  learned  in  the 
work  of  the  first  year,  showing  him  one  phase  of  the  ap- 
plication of  that  knowledge  and  making  him  feel,  as  it  were, 
the  quantitative  side  of  science.  This  latter  view  can  be 
imparted  only  to  a  limited  degree  in  the  first  year's  work, 
but  the  quantitative  course  offers  an  unusual  opportunity 
for  giving  the  student  an  application  of  the  fundamental 
quantitative  laws  which  govern  all  chemical  processes.  It 
is  not  possible  to  analyze  very  many  substances  during  any 
college  course  in  quantitative  analysis.  The  wise  teacher 
will  choose  the  substances  to  be  analyzed  so  as  to  keep  up 
the  interest  of  the  student  and  yet  at  the  same  time  give 
him  examples  of  all  the  fundamental  cases  that  are  com- 
monly met  in  the  practice  of  analytical  work.  A  careful, 
painstaking,  intelligent  worker  should  be  the  result  of  the 
course  in  quantitative  analysis.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
course,  too,  a  certain  amount  of  speed  should  be  insisted 
upon.  The  student  should  be  taught  to  carry  on  several 
processes  at  the  same  time,  but  care  should  be  taken  not  to 
overdo  this. 

In  the  course  in  organic  chemistry,  lectures,  laboratory  The  course 
work,  and  recitations,  arranged  very  much  as  to  time  as  in  chemUtey 
the  first  year,  will  be  found  advantageous.  If  the  inten- 
sive work  in  organic  chemistry  is  postponed  to  the  third 
year  in  college,  there  are  certain  advantages.  For  example, 
the  student  is  more  mature  and  has  had  drill  and  experience 
in  the  somewhat  simpler  processes  commonly  taught  in  gen- 
eral and  analytical  chemistry.  On  the  other  hand,  the  post- 
poning of  organic  chemistry  to  the  third  year  has  the  dis- 
advantage that  the  student  goes  through  his  basal  training 


122  College  Teaching 

in  quantitative  analysis  without  the  help  of  that  larger 
horizon  which  can  come  to  him  only  through  the  study 
of  the  methods  of  organic  chemistry.  The  general  work 
of  the  first  year,  to  be  sure,  if  well  done  compensates  in 
part  for  what  is  lost  by  postponing  organic  chemistry  till 
the  third  year,  but  it  can  never  entirely  remove  the  loss 
to  the  student.  Teachers  will  differ  as  to  whether  the 
time-honored  division  of  organic  chemistry  into  the  ali- 
phatic and  aromatic  series  should  be  maintained  pedagogi- 
cally,  but  they  will  doubtless  all  agree  that  the  methods 
of  working  out  the  structure  of  the  chemical  compound  are 
peculiarly  characteristic  of  the  study  of  the  compounds  of 
carbon,  and  these  methods  must  consequently  constitute 
an  important  point  to  be  inculcated  in  organic  chemistry. 
The  derivation  of  the  various  types  of  organic  compounds 
from  the  fundamental  hydrocarbons  as  well  as  from  one 
another,  and  the  characteristic  reactions  of  each  of  these 
fundamental  forms  which  lead  to  their  identification  and 
also  often  serve  as  a  means  of  their  purification,  ihould 
naturally  be  taught  in  a  thoroughgoing  manner.  The  nu- 
merous practical  applications  which  the  teacher  of  organic 
chemistry  has  at  his  command  will  always  serve  to  make  this 
subject  one  of  the  deepest  interest,  if  not  the  most  fascin- 
ating portion  of  the  entire  subject  of  chemistry.  No  student 
should  leave  the  course  in  organic  chemistry  without  feeling 
the  beautiful  unity  and  logical  relationship  which  obtains 
in  the  case  of  the  compounds  of  carbon,  the  experimental 
study  of  which  has  cast  so  much  light  upon  the  chemical 
processes  in  living  plants  and  animals,  processes  upon 
which  life  itself  depends.  The  analysis  of  organic  com- 
pounds is  probably  best  taught  in  connection  with  the  course 
in  organic  chemistry.  It  is  here  that  the  student  is  intro- 
duced to  the  use  of  the  combustion  furnace  and  the  method 
of  working  out  the  empirical  formulae  of  the  compounds 
which  he  has  carefully  prepared  and  purified.  The  labora- 
tory practice  in  organic  chemistry  generally  requires  the 
use  of  larger  pieces  of  apparatus.  Some  of  the  experi- 
ments also  are  connected  with  peculiar  dangers  of  their 


The  Teaching  of  Chemistry  123 

own.  These  facts  require  that  the  student  should  not  ap- 
proach the  course  without  sufficient  preliminary  training. 
Furthermore,  the  teacher  needs  to  exercise  special  care  in 
supervising  the  laboratory  work  so  as  to  guard  the  student 
against  serious  accidents. 

The  historical  development  of  organic  chemistry  is  espe- 
cially interesting,  and  allusions  to  the  history  of  the  impor- 
tant discoveries  and  developments  of  ideas  in  organic  chem- 
istry should  be  used  to  stimulate  interest  and  so  enhance  the 
value  of  the  work  of  the  student.  The  practical  side  of  or- 
ganic chemistry  should  never  be  lost  sight  of  for  a  moment, 
£md  under  no  condition  should  the  course  be  allowed  to  de- 
teriorate into  one  of  mere  picturing  of  structural  formulae 
on  the  blackboard.  All  chemical  formulas  are  merely 
compact  forms  of  expression  of  what  we  know  about 
chemical  compounds.  There  are,  no  doubt,  many  facts 
about  chemical  compounds  which  their  accepted  formulas 
do  not  express  at  all,  and  the  wise  teacher  should  lead  the 
student  to  see  this.  There  is  peculiar  danger  in  the  course 
in  organic  chemistry  that  the  pupil  become  a  mere  formula 
worshiper,  and  this  must  carefully  be  guarded  against. 

The  applications  of  organic  chemistry  to  the  arts  and 
industries,  but  especially  to  biochemistry,  will  no  doubt  in- 
terest many  members  of  the  class  of  a  course  in  organic 
chemistry  if  the  subject  is  properly  taught.  This  will  be 
particularly  the  case  if  the  teacher  always  holds  before  the 
mind  of  the  pupil  the  actual  realities  in  the  laboratory  and 
in  nature,  using  formulation  merely  as  the  expression  of 
our  knowledge  and  not  as  an  end  in  itself. 

Physical  chemistry,  commonly  regarded  as  the  youngest    Place  of 
and  by  its  adherents  the  most  important  and  all-pervading    chemistry 
branch  of  chemistry,  is  presented  very  early  in  the  college   jnthecoi- 
course  by  some  teachers,  and  postponed  to  the  junior  and    lam 
even  the  senior  year  by  others.     Just  as  a  certain  amount  of 
organic  chemistry  should  be  taught  in  the  first  year,  so  a 
few  of  the  most  fundamental  principles  of  physical  chem- 
istry must  also  find  a  place  in  the  basal  work  of  the  be- 
ginner.    However,  in  the  first  year's  work  in  chemistry  so 


124 


College  Teaching 


Courses  In 

applied 

chemistry 


Enthusias- 
tic teaching 
a  vital 
factor 


many  phases  of  the  subject  must  needs  be  presented  in 
order  to  give  a  good  general  view,  that  many  details  in 
either  organic,  analytical,  or  physical  chemistry  must  neces- 
sarily be  omitted.  What  is  to  be  taught  in  that  important 
basal  year  must,  therefore,  be  selected  with  extreme  care. 
Moreover,  so  far  as  physical  chemistry  is  concerned,  it  is 
in  a  way  chemical  philosophy  or  general  chemistry  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  word,  and  consequently  requires  for 
its  successful  pursuit  not  only  a  basal  course,  but  also 
proper  knowledge  of  analytical  and  organic  chemistry,  as 
well  as  a  grounding  in  physics,  crystallography,  and  mathe- 
matics. At  the  same  time  a  certain  amount  of  biological 
study  is  highly  desirable.  A  good  course  in  physical 
chemistry  postulates  lectures,  laboratory  work,  and  recita- 
tions. In  general,  these  should  be  arranged  much  like 
those  in  the  basal  course  and  the  course  in  organic  chem- 
istry. If  anything,  more  time  should  be  put  upon  the 
lectures  and  recitations;  certainly  more  time  should  be  de- 
voted to  exercises  of  this  kind  than  in  the  course  in  quan- 
titative analysis,  wliich  is  best  taught  in  the  laboratory. 
At  the  same  time  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  teach  physical 
chemistry  without  laboratory  practice.  Indeed,  laboratory 
practice  is  the  very  life  of  physical  chemistry,  and  the  more 
of  such  work  we  can  have,  the  better.  However,  since 
physical  chemistry,  as  already  stated,  delves  into  the  phil- 
osophical field,  discussions  in  the  lecture  hall  and  class- 
room become  of  peculiar  importance. 

Many  colleges  now  give  additional  courses  in  chemical 
technology.  These  would  naturally  come  after  the  student 
has  had  a  sufficient  foundation  in  general  chemistry,  chem- 
ical analysis,  and  organic  and  physical  chemistry.  As  a 
rule  such  applied  courses  ought  not  to  be  given  until  the 
junior  or  senior  year.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  introduce 
such  courses  earlier,  for  the  student  cannot  do  the  work 
in  an  intelligent  manner. 

In  all  the  courses  in  chemistry,  interest  and  enthusiasm 
are  of  vital  importance.  These  can  be  instilled  only  by 
the  teacher  himself,  and  no  amount  of  laying  out  courses 


The  Teaching  of  Chemistn/ 


125 


on  paper  and  giving  directions,  however  valuable  they 
may  be,  can  possibly  take  the  place  of  an  able,  devoted, 
enthusiastic  teacher.  Chemistry  deals  with  things,  and 
hence  is  always  best  taught  in  the  laboratory.  The  class- 
room and  the  library  should  create  interest  and  enthusiasm 
for  further  laboratory  work,  and  in  turn  the  laboratory 
work  should  yield  results  that  will  finally  manifest  them- 
selves in  the  form  of  good  written  reports. 

Original  work  should  always  be  carried  on  by  the  college 
teacher.  If  he  fails  in  this,  his  teaching  will  soon  be  dead. 
There  will  always  be  some  bright  students  who  can  help  him 
in  his  research  work.  These  should  be  led  on  and  devel- 
oped along  lines  of  original  thought.  From  this  source 
there  will  always  spring  live  workers  in  the  arts  and  indus- 
tries as  well  as  in  academic  lines.  Lack  of  facilities  and 
time  is  often  pleaded  by  the  college  teacher  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  not  doing  original  work.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
such  facilities  are  often  very  meager.  Nevertheless,  the 
enthusiastic  teacher  is  bound  to  find  the  time  and  also  the 
means  for  doing  some  original  work.  A  great  deal  can- 
not be  expected  of  him  as  a  rule  because  of  his  pedagog- 
ical duties,  but  a  certain  amount  of  productive  work 
is  absolutely  essential  to  any  live  college  teacher. 

The  importance  of  chemistry  in  daily  life  and  in  the 
industries  has  been  increasing  and  is  bound  to  continue  to 
increase.  For  this  reason  the  subject  is  destined  to  take 
a  more  important  place  in  the  college  curriculum.  If 
well  taught,  college  chemistry  will  not  only  widen  the  hori- 
zon of  the  student,  but  it  will  also  afford  him  both  manual 
training  and  mental  drill  and  culture  of  the  highest  order. 

Louis  Kahlenberg 

University  of  Wisconsin 


The  teacber 
must  con- 
tinue bis  re- 
searcbes 


Future  of 
chemistry  in 
the  college 
curriculum 


VI 
THE  TEACHING  OF  PHYSICS 


UtUitarian 
value  of  the 
study  of 
physics 


Disciplinary 
Talne  of  the 
study 


THE  need  of  giving  to  physics  a  prominent  place  in  the 
college  curriculum  of  the  twentieth  century  is  quite 
universally  admitted.  If,  as  an  eminent  medical  authority 
maintains,  no  man  can  be  said  to  be  educated  who  has  not 
the  knowledge  of  trigonometry,  how  much  more  true  is 
this  statement  with  reference  to  physics?  The  five  human 
senses  are  not  more  varied  in  scope  than  are  the  five  great 
domains  of  this  science.  In  the  study  of  heat,  sound,  and 
light  we  may  strive  merely  to  understand  the  nature  of 
the  external  stimuli  that  come  to  us  through  touch,  hear- 
ing and  sight;  but  in  mechanics,  where  we  examine  criti- 
cally the  simplest  ideas  of  motion  and  inertia,  we  acquire 
the  method  of  analysis  which  when  applied  to  the  mysteries 
of  molecular  physics  and  electricity  carries  us  along 
avenues  that  lead  to  the  most  profound  secrets  of  nature. 
Utilitarian  aspects  dwindle  in  our  perspective  as  we  face  the 
problem  of  the  structure,  origin,  and  evolution  of  matter 
—  as  we  question  the  independence  of  space  and  time. 
Modem  physics  possesses  philosophic  stature  of  heroic  size. 

But  with  regard  to  everyday  occurrences  a  study  of  phys- 
ics is  necessary.  It  is  trite  to  mention  the  development 
in  recent  years  of  those  mechanical  and  electrical  arts 
that  have  made  modern  civilization.  The  submarine,  vital- 
ized by  storage  battery  and  Diesel  engine,  the  torpedo 
with  its  gyroscopic  pilot  and  pneumatic  motors,  the  wire- 
less transmission  of  speech  over  seas  and  continents  — 
these  things  no  longer  excite  wonder  nor  claim  attention  as 
we  scan  the  morning  paper;  yet  how  many  understand  their 
mechanism  or  appreciate  the  spirit  which  has  given  them 
to  the  world? 

If  culture  means  the  subjective  transformation  of  in- 
formation into  a  philosophy  of  life,  can  culture  be  complete 
unless  it   has   included   in   its  reflections  the   marvelously 

120 


The  Teaching  of  Physics  127 

simple  yet  intricate  interrelations  of  natural  phenomena? 
The  value  of  this  intricate  simplicity  as  a  mental  discipline 
is  equaled  perhaps  only  in  the  finely  drawn  distinctions 
of  philosophy  and  in  the  painstaking  statements  of  limita- 
tions and  the  rapid  generalizations  of  pure  mathematics; 
and  let  us  not  forget  the  value  of  discipline,  outgrown 
and  unheeded  though  it  be  in  the  acquisitive  life  of  the 
present  age. 

The  professional  student,  continually  increasing  in  ^^^j*°°»?' 
numbers  in  our  colleges,  either  of  science  or  in  certain  phuosophy 
branches  of  law,  finds  a  broad  familiarity  with  the  latest  ^^.^  ' 
points  of  view  of  the  physicist  not  only  helpful  but  often  sciences 
indispensable.  Chemistry  can  find  with  difficulty  any  arti- 
ficial basis  for  a  boundary  of  its  domain  from  that  of  phy- 
sics. Certainly  no  real  one  exists.  The  biologist  is  heard 
asking  about  the  latest  idea  in  atomic  evolution  and  the 
electrical  theories  of  matter,  hoping  to  find  in  these  illumi- 
nating points  of  view,  he  tells  us,  some  analogy  to  his 
almost  hopelessly  complex  problems  of  life  and  heredity. 
Even  those  medical  men  whose  interest  is  entirely  commer- 
cial appreciate  the  convenience  of  the  X-ray  and  the  impor- 
tance of  correctly  interpreting  the  pathological  effects  of  the 
rays  of  radio-activity  and  ultra-violet  light.  One  finds  a 
great  geologist  in  collaboration  with  his  distinguished  col- 
league in  physics,  and  from  the  latter  comes  a  contribution 
on  the  rigidity  of  the  earth.  Astronomy  answers  nowadays 
to  the  name  of  astrophysics,  and  progressive  observatories 
recognize  in  the  laboratory  a  tool  as  essential  as  the  tele- 
scope. In  a  word,  the  professional  student  of  science  not 
only  finds  that  the  subject  matter  of  physics  has  many  funda- 
mental points  of  contact  with  his  own  chosen  field,  but  also 
recognizes  that  the  less  complex  nature  of  its  material 
allows  the  method  of  study  to  stand  out  in  bolder  relief. 
Training  in  the  method  and  a  passion  for  the  method  are 
vital  to  a  successful  and  an  ardent  career. 

In  the  teaching  of  physics,  then,  the  aim  might  at  first 
sight  appear  to  be  quite  varied,  differing  with  different 
classes  of  students.     A  careful   analysis  of  the  situation, 


128 


College  Teaching 


Should  the 
teaching  of 
college 
physics 
change  its 
aim  for  dif- 
ferent 
classes  of 
students? 


however,  will  show,  we  think,  that  this  conclusion  can  with 
difficulty  be  justified:  that  it  is  necessary  to  conduct  college 
instruction  in  a  fashion  dictated  almost  not  at  all  by  the 
subsequent  aims  of  the  students  concerned.  In  the  more 
elementary  work,  certainly,  adherence  to  this  idea  is  of 
great  importance.  The  character,  design,  and  purpose  of 
an  edifice  do  not  appear, in  the  foundations  except  that  they 
are  massive  if  the  structure  is  to  be  great. 

Not  infrequently  this  seems  an  unnecessary  hardship  to  a 
professional  student  anxious  to  get  into  the  work  of  his 
chosen  field.  If  such  is  the  case,  let  him  question  per- 
haps whether  any  study  of  physics  should  be  attempted, 
as  this  query  may  have  different  answers  for  different  in- 
dividuals. But  if  he  is  to  study  it  at  all,  there  is  but  one 
place  where  the  analysis  of  physical  phenomena  can  be- 
gin, and  that  is  with  fundamentals  —  space,  time,  motion, 
and  inertia.  How  can  one  who  is  ignorant  of  the  exist- 
ence and  characteristics  of  rotational  inertia  understand  a 
galvanometer?  How  can  waves  be  discussed  unless  in 
terms  of  period,  amplitude,  frequency,  and  the  like,  that  find 
definition  in  simple  harmonic  motion?  How  does  one 
visualize  the  mechanism  of  a  gas,  unless  by  means  of  such 
ideas  as  momentum  interchange,  energy  conservation,  and 
forces  of  attraction? 

Let  us  emphasize  here,  lest  we  be  misunderstood,  that  we 
are  considering  collegiate  courses.  We  do  not  doubt  that 
descriptive  physics  may  be  given  after  one  fashion  to 
farmers,  quite  differently  to  engineers,  and  from  still  a 
third  point  of  view  to  medical  students.  Unfortunately 
some  collegiate  courses  never  get  beyond  the  high  school 
method.  Our  aim  is  not  to  discuss  descriptive  courses, 
but  those  that  approach  the  subject  with  the  spirit  of 
critical  analysis,  for  these  alone  do  we  deem  worthy  of  a 
place  in  the  college  curriculum. 

The  problem  of  the  descriptive  course  is  the  problem  of 
the  high  school.  Because  of  failure  there,  too  often  we  see 
at  many  a  university  courses  in  subfreshman  physics.  These 
are  made  necessary  where  entrance  requirements  do  not 


J'he  Teaching  of  Physics 


129 


demand  this  subject  and  where  subsequent  interest  along 
related  lines  develops  among  the  students  a  tardy  neces- 
sity of  getting  it.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  collegiate 
course  it  often  appears  as  if  the  subfreshman  course  could 
be  raised  to  academic  rank.  This  is  because  familiarity 
with  the  material  must  precede  an  analysis  of  it.  Credit  for 
high  school  physics  on  the  records  of  the  entrance  examiner, 
unless  this  credit  is  based  on  entrance  examination,  is 
often  found  to  stand  for  very  little.  Consequently  the 
almost  continual  demand  for  the  high  school  work  under 
the  direct  supervision  of  a  collegiate  faculty.  The  number 
of  students  who  should  go  into  this  course  instead  of  the 
college  course  is  increasing  at  the  present  time  in  the  im- 
mediate locality  of  the  writer. 

As  contributory  testimony  here,  witness  the  number  of 
colleges  that  do  not  take  cognizance  at  all  of  high  school 
preparation  and  admit  to  the  same  college  classes  those 
who  have  never  had  preparatory  physics  with  those  who 
have  had  it.  We  are  told  the  difference  between  the  two 
groups  is  insignificant.  Perhaps  it  is.  If  so,  this  fact  re- 
flects as  much  on  the  college  as  on  the  high  school.  If  we 
are  looking  for  a  solution  of  our  problem  in  this  direction, 
let  us  be  undeceived;  we  are  looking  backwards,  not  for- 
ward. 

No  one  will  affirm  that  to  a  class  of  whose  numbers 
some  have  never  had  high  school  physics  a  course  that  is 
really  analytical  can  be  given.  Wherever  a  rigorous  an- 
alytic course  is  given  those  who  have  been  well  trained 
in  descriptive  physics  do  well  in  it  in  general.  Let  us  not 
beg  the  question  by  giving  such  physics  in  a  college  that 
does  not  require  high  school  preparation.  The  college  cur- 
riculum is  full  enough  as  it  is  without  duplication  of  high 
school  work,  and  any  college  physics  course  that  is  a  first 
course  is  essentially  a  high  school  course. 

Let  us  rather  put  the  responsibility  squarely  where  it 
lies.  The  hiffh  school  will  respond  if  the  urgency  is 
made  clear.  Witness  some  of  them  in  our  cities  already 
attempting  the  junior  college  idea,  an  idea  that  has  not 


The  course 
in  college 
physics  dif- 
ferentiated 
from  the 
high  school 
course 


Need  of 
adequate 
high  school 
preparation 
in  physics 


130 


College  Teaching 


Preparatory 
work  in 
mathematics 
essential  fox 
success  in 
college 
physics 


Need  of  test- 
ing each 
student's 
preparation 


been  unsuccessful  in  some  of  our  private  schools.  If  it 
is  made  clear  that  a  thoroughgoing  course  in  descriptive 
physics  is  a  paramount  necessity  in  college  work  and  that 
no  effort  will  be  spared  on  the  part  of  the  university  to 
insure  this  quality,  the  men  will  be  found  and  the  proper 
courses  given. 

We  favor  a  comprehensive  examination  plan  in  all 
cases  where  the  quality  of  the  high  school  work  is  either 
unknown  or  open  to  question. 

Familiarity,  likewise,  with  the  most  elementary  uses  of 
mathematics  should  be  insured.  It  would  be  highly  de- 
sirable that  a  course  of  collegiate  grade  in  trigonometry 
should  immediately  precede  the  physics.  This  is  not  be- 
cause the  details  of  trigonometry  are  all  needed  in  physics. 
In  fact,  a  few  who  have  never  had  trigonometry  make  a 
conspicuous  success  in  physics.  These,  however,  are  ones 
who  have  a  natural  facility  in  analysis.  To  keep  them  out 
because  of  failure  to  have  had  a  prerequisite  course  in 
trigonometry  often  works  an  unnecessary  hardship.  We 
would  argue,  therefore,  for  a  formal  prerequisite  on  this 
subject,  reserving  for  certain  students  exemption,  which 
should  be  determined  in  all  cases,  if  not  by  the  instructor 
himself,  at  least  by  his  cooperation  with  some  advisory 
administrative  officer. 

Nor  is  it  sufficient  with  regard  to  the  mathematical  prepa- 
ration or  the  knowledge  of  high  school  physics  in  either 
case  to  go  exclusively  by  the  official  credit  record  of  the 
student.  It  is  our  firm  conviction  from  several  years'  ex- 
perience where  widely  different  aims  in  the  student  body 
are  represented  that  above  and  beyond  all  formal  records 
attention  to  the  individual  case  is  of  prime  importance. 
The  opening  week  of  the  course  should  be  so  conducted 
that  those  who  are  obviously  unequipped  can  be  located 
and  directed  elsewhere  into  the  proper  work.  How  this 
may  best  be  accomplished  can  be  determined  only  by  the 
circumstances  in  the  individual  school,  we  imagine.  Daily 
tests  covering  the  simplest  descriptive  information  that 
should  be  retained  from  high  school  physics  and  requiring 


The  Teaching  of  Physics 


131 


the  intelligent  use  of  arithmetic,  elementary  algebra,  and 
geometry  will  reveal  amazing  incapacity  in  these  things. 
Tuttle,  in  his  little  book  entitled  An  Introduction  to  Labora- 
tory Physics  (Jefferson  Laboratory  of  Physics,  Philadel- 
phia, 1915),  gives  on  pages  15-16  an  excellent  list  of 
questions  of  this  sort.  Any  one  with  teaching  experience 
in  the  subject  whatever  can  make  up  an  equally  good  one 
suited  for  his  special  needs  and  temperament.  It  should 
not  be  assumed  that  all  who  fail  in  such  tests  should  be 
dropped.  Some  undoubtedly  should  be  sent  back  to  high 
school  work  or  its  equivalent;  others  may  need  double  the 
required  work  in  mathematics  to  overcome  their  unreadi- 
ness in  its  use.  Personal  contacts  will  show  that  some  are 
drifting  into  a  scientific  course  who  have  no  aptitude  for 
it  and  who  will  be  doomed  to  disappointment  should  they 
continue.  In  a  word,  then,  we  are  convinced  that  the 
more  carefully  one  plans  the  work  of  the  first  week  or  so 
the  more  smoothly  does  the  work  of  the  rest  of  the  year 
follow.  The  number  of  failures  may  be  reduced  to  a  few 
per  cent  without  in  any  way  relaxing  the  standard  of  the 
course. 

With  regard  to  the  organization  of  the  college  courses 
in  physics  there  seems  to  us  to  be  at  least  one  method  that 
leads  to  a  considerable  degree  of  success.  This  is  not 
the  lecture  method  of  instruction;  neither  is  it  a  wholly 
unmitigated  laboratory  method. 

To  kindle  inspiration  and  enthusiasm  nothing  can  equal 
the  contact  in  lectures  with  others,  preferably  leaders  in 
their  profession,  but  at  least  men  who  possess  one  of  these 
qualities.  Such  contacts  need  not  be  frequent;  indeed,  they 
should  not  be.  The  speaker  is  apt  to  make  more  effort, 
the  student  to  be  more  responsive,  if  such  occasions  are 
relatively  rare.  Even  thus,  although  real  information  is 
imparted  at  such  a  time,  it  is  seldom  acquired.  However, 
perspective  is  furnished,  interest  stimulated,  and  the  occa- 
sion enjoyed. 

For  the  real  acquisition  of  scientific  information,  the 
great  method  is  the  working  out  of  a  laboratory  exercise 


Methods  of 
teaching 
college 
physics 


Lecture 
method  vs. 
laboratory 
method 


132 


College  Teaching 


Limitations 
of  exclusive 
use  of  each 
method 


Aims  of  the 

laboratory 

method 


Value  of  the 
supplemen- 
tary lecture 


and  pertinent  problems,  with  informal  guidance  in  the  at- 
mosphere of  active  study  and  discussion  engendered  among 
a  small  group, —  the  laboratory  method.  Taken  alone,  it 
is  apt  to  become  mechanical  and  uninteresting  and  the  out- 
look to  be  obscured  by  details.  Lectures,  especially  demon- 
stration lectures,  are  needed  to  vitalize  and  inspire.  More- 
over, many  of  the  most  vivid  illustrations  of  physical  prin- 
ciples that  occur  on  every  hand  to  focus  the  popular  atten- 
tion are  never  met  with  in  the  college  course  because  they 
are  unsuited  for  inexperienced  hands  or  not  readily  amena- 
ble to  quantitative  experimentation.  The  more  informally 
such  demonstrations  can  be  conducted,  the  more  enthusi- 
astically they  are  received. 

With  regard  to  laboratory  work,  accuracy  in  moderate 
degree  is  important,  but  too  great  insistence  upon  it  is 
apt  to  overshadow  the  higher  aim;  namely,  that  of  the 
analysis  of  the  phenomena  themselves.  A  determination 
of  the  pressure  coefficient  of  a  gas  to  half  a  per  cent,  accom- 
panied by  a  clear  visualization  of  the  mechanism  by  which 
a  gas  exerts  a  pressure  and  a  usable  identification  of 
temperature  with  kinetic  agitation,  would  seem  preferable 
to  an  experimental  error  of  a  tenth  per  cent  which  may  be 
exacted  which  is  unaccompanied  by  these  inspiring  and 
rather  modern  points  of  view.  Especially  in  electricity 
is  a  familiarity  with  the  essentials  of  the  modern  theories 
important.  Here  supplementary  lectures  are  of  great  neces- 
sity, for  no  textbook  keeps  pace  with  progress  in  this  tre- 
mendously important  field.  Problem  solving  with  class 
discussion  is  absolutely  essential,  and  should  occupy  at  least 
one  third  of  the  entire  time.  In  no  other  way  can  one  be 
convinced  that  the  student  is  doing  anything  more  than  com- 
mitting to  memory,  or  blindly  following  directions  with  no 
reaction  of  his  own. 

The  incorporation  recently  of  this  idea  into  the  courses 
at  the  University  of  Chicago  has  been  very  successful. 
Five  sections  which  are  under  different  instructors  are  com- 
bined one  day  a  week  at  an  hour  when  there  are  no  other 
university  engagements,  for  a  lecture  demonstration.     This 


The  Teaching  of  Physics  133 

is  given  by  a  senior  member  of  the  staff  whenever  possible. 
The  other  meetings  during  the  week  are  conducted  by  the 
individual  instructors  and  consist  of  two  two-hour  labo- 
ratory periods  and  two  class  periods  that  usually  run  into 
somewhat  over  one  hour  each.  These  sections  are  limited 
to  twenty-five,  and  a  smaller  number  than  this  would  be 
desirable.  The  responsibility  for  the  course  rests  natur- 
ally upon  the  individual  instructors  of  these  small  sections. 
These  men  also  share  in  the  demonstration  work,  since 
each  is  usually  an  enthusiast  in  some  particular  field  and 
will  make  a  great  effort  in  his  own  specialty  to  give  a  suc- 
cessful popular  presentation  of  the  important  ideas  involved. 
The  enthusiasm  which  this  plan  has  engendered  is  very 
great.  Attendance  is  crowded  and  there  is  always  a  row 
of  visitors,  teachers  of  the  vicinity,  advanced  students  in 
other  fields  of  work,  or  undergraduates  brought  in  by 
members  of  the  class.  These  latter  especially  are  encour- 
aged, as  this  does  much  to  offset  current  ideas  that  physics 
is  a  subject  of  unmitigated  severity.  The  particular  topics 
put  into  these  demonstrations  will  be  discussed  in  para- 
graphs below,  which  take  up  in  more  detail  the  organization 
of  the  special  subdivisions  of  the  material  in  a  general 
physics  course. 

Mechanics  is  a  stumbling  block  at  the  outset.     As  we  have   Mechanics  a 
•     !•           II                                r             I       1       •       •            r                              Stumbling 
indicated  above,  it  must  torm  the  beginning  ot  any  course  block 

that  is  analytic  in  aim.  There  is  no  question  of  sidestep-  ^°^»2 
ping  the  difficulty:  it  must  be  surmounted.  A  judicious  difficulty 
weeding  during  the  first  week  is  the  initial  part  of  the  plan. 
Interest  may  be  aroused  at  once  in  the  demonstration  lec- 
tures by  mechanical  tricks  that  show  apparent  violations 
of  Newton's  Laws.  These  group  around  the  type  of  ex- 
periment which  shows  a  modification  of  the  natural  uniform 
rectilinear  motion  of  any  object  by  some  hidden  force,  most 
often  a  concealed  magnetic  field.  The  instinctive  adhe- 
rence of  every  one  to  Newton's  dynamic  definition,  that 
acceleration  defies  the  ratio  of  force  to  inertia,  is  made  ob- 
vious by  the  amusement  with  which  a  trick  in  apparent 
defiance  of  this  principle  is  greeted.     Informality  of  dis- 


134  College  Teaching 

cussion  in  such  experiments,  questions  on  the  part  of  the 
instructor  that  are  more  than  rhetorical,  and  volunteer 
answers  and  comment  from  the  class  increase  the  vividness 
of  the  impressions.  A  mechanical  adaptation  of  the  "  mon- 
key on  the  string "  problem,  using  little  electric  hoists 
or  clockworks,  introduces  interesting  discussion  of  the  third 
law  in  conjunction  with  the  second.  A  toy  cannon  and 
target  mounted  on  easily  rolling  carriages  bring  in  the 
similar  ideas  where  impulses  rather  than  forces  alone  can 
be  measured. 

There  follow,  then,  the  laboratory  experiments  of  the 
Atwood  machine  and  the  force  table,  where  quantitative 
results  are  demanded.  It  is  desirable  to  have  these  experi- 
ments at  least  worked  by  the  class  in  unison.  Whatever 
may  be  the  exigencies  of  numbers  and  apparatus  equipment 
that  prevent  it  later,  these  introductions  should  be  given  to 
and  discussed  by  all  together.  In  the  nature  of  things, 
fortunately,  this  is  possible.  A  single  Atwood  machine 
will  give  traces  for  all  in  a  short  time  under  the  guidance 
of  the  instructor.  The  force  table  experiment  is  nine- 
tenths  calculation,  and  verifications  may  be  made  for  a 
large  number  in  a  short  time.  Searching  problems  and 
discussion  are  instigated  at  once,  and  the  notion  of  rota- 
tional equilibrium  and  force  moments  brought  in.  Because 
of  the  very  great  difficulty  seeming  to  attach  to  force  reso- 
lutions, demonstration  experiments  and  problems  using  a 
bridge  structure,  such  as  the  Harvard  experimental  truss, 
will  amply  repay  the  time  invested.  Another  experiment 
here,  which  makes  analysis  of  the  practice  of  weighing,  is 
possible,  although  there  will  be  divergence  almost  at  once 
due  to  the  personality  of  the  instructor  and  the  equipment 
by  which  he  finds  himself  limited.  The  early  introduc- 
tion of  moments  is  important,  however,  because  it  seems 
as  if  a  great  amount  of  unnecessary  confusion  on  this  topic 
is  continually  cropping  out  later.  At  this  point,  if  limita- 
tions of  apparatus  present  a  difficulty,  a  group  of  more  or 
less  independent  experiments  may  be  started.  Ideas  of 
energy   may    be    illustrated    in    the    determination    of   the 


The  Teaching  of  Physics  135 

efficiency  and  the  horse  power  of  simple  machines,  such  as 
water  motors,  pulleys,  and  even  small  gas  or  steam  engines. 

In  discussion  of  power  one  should  not  forget  that  in 
practical  problems  one  meets  power  as  force  limes  velocity 
rather  more  frequently  than  as  rate  of  doing  work,  and  this 
aspect  should  be  emphasized  in  the  experiments.  Conser- 
vation of  energy  is  brought  out  in  these  same  experiments 
with  reference  to  the  efficiencies  involved.  In  sharp  con- 
trast here  the  principle  of  conservation  of  momentum  may 
be  brought  in  by  ballistic  pendulum  experiments  involving 
elastic  and  inelastic  impacts.  Most  students  are  unfamiliar 
with  the  application  of  these  ideas  to  the  determination  of 
projectile  velocities,  and  this  forms  an  interesting  lecture 
demonstration.  Elasticity  likewise  is  a  topic  that  may  be 
introduced  with  more  or  less  emphasis  according  to  the 
predilection  of  the  instructor.  The  moduli  of  Young  and 
of  simple  rigidity  lend  themselves  readily  to  quantitative 
laboratory  experiments.  Any  amount  of  interesting  ma- 
terial may  be  culled  here  from  recent  investigations  of 
Michelson,  Bridgman,  and  others  with  regard  to  elastic 
limits,  departures  from  the  simple  relations,  variations  with 
pressure,  etc.,  for  a  lantern  or  demonstration  talk  in  these 
connections. 

By  this  time  the  student  should  have  found  himself  suf- 
ficiently prepared  to  take  up  problems  of  rotational  motion. 
The  application  of  Newton's  Laws  to  pure  rotations  and 
combinations  of  rotation  and  translation,  such  as  rolling 
motions,  are  very  many.  We  would  emphasize  here  the 
dynamic  definition  of  moment  of  inertia,  I  =  Fh/a  rather 
than  the  one  so  frequently  given  importance  for  computa- 
tional purposes,  2mr-.  Quantitative  experiments  are  fur- 
nished by  the  rotational  counterpart  of  the  Atwood  ma- 
chine. Lecture  demonstrations  for  several  talks  abound: 
stability  of  spin  about  the  axis  of  greatest  inertia,  Kelvin's 
famous  experiments  with  eggs  and  tops  containing  liquids, 
which  suggest  the  gyroscopic  ideas,  and  finally  a  discus- 
sion of  gyroscopes  and  their  multitudinous  applications. 
The  book  of  Crabtree,  Spinning  Tops  and  the  Gyroscope, 


136 


College  Teaching 


Suggested 
content  for 
the  study  of 
phenomena 
of  heat  and 
molecular 
physics 


and  the  several  papers  by  Gray  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Physical  Society  of  London,  summarize  a  wealth  of  ma- 
terial. If  one  wishes  to  interject  a  parenthetical  discus- 
sion of  the  Bernouilli  principle,  and  the  simplest  laws  of 
pressure  distributions  on  plane  surfaces  moving  through  a 
resisting  medium,  a  group  of  striking  demonstrations  is  pos- 
sible involving  this  notion,  and  by  simple  combination  of  it 
with  the  puecession  of  a  rotating  body  the  boomerang  may 
be  brought  in  and  its  action  for  the  major  part  given  ex- 
planation. 

Rotational  motion  leads  naturally  to  a  discussion  of 
centripetal  force,  and  this  in  turn  is  simple  harmonic  mo- 
tion. This  latter  finds  most  important  applications  in  the 
pendulum  experiments,  and  no  end  of  material  is  here  to 
be  found  in  any  of  the  textbooks.  The  greatest  refinement 
of  experimentation  for  elementary  purposes  will  be  the 
determination  of  "  g  "  by  the  method  of  coincidences  be- 
tween a  simple  pendulum  and  the  standard  clock.  Ele- 
mentary analysis  without  use  of  calculus  reaches  its  cul- 
mination in  a  discussion  of  forced  vibrations  similar  to 
that  used  by  Magie  in  his  general  text.  Many  will  not  care 
to  go  as  far  as  this.  Others  will  go  farther  and  discuss 
Kater's  pendulum  and  the  small  corrections  needed  for 
precision,   for   here   does   precision   find   bold   expression. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  give  a  synopsis  of  the  entire 
general  physics  course.  We  have  made  an  especially  de- 
tailed study  of  mechanics,  because  this  topic  is  the  one 
of  greatest  difficulty  by  far  in  the  pedagogy.  It  is  too 
formally  given  in  the  average  text,  and  seems  to  have 
suffered  most  of  all  from  lack  of  imagination  on  the  part 
of  instructors. 

In  the  field  of  heat  and  molecular  physics  in  general 
there  is  much  better  textbook  material.  Experiments  here 
may  legitimately  be  called  precise,  for  the  gas  laws,  tem- 
perature coefficients,  and  densities  of  gases  and  saturated 
vapor  pressures  will  readily  yield  in  comparatively  inex- 
perienced hands  an  accuracy  of  about  one  in  a  thousand. 
In   the   demonstrations   emphasis   should   be  given   to   the 


The  Teaching  of  Physics 


137 


visualization  of  the  kinetic  theory  points  of  view.  Such 
models  as  the  Northrup  visible  molecule  apparatus  are  very 
helpful.  However,  in  absence  of  funds  for  such  elabora- 
tion, slides  from  imaginative  drawings  showing  to  scale  con- 
ditions in  solids,  liquids,  and  vapors  with  average  free  paths 
indicated  and  the  history  of  single  molecules  depicted  will 
be  found  ideal  in  getting  the  visualization  home  to  the 
student.  Where  we  have  a  theory  so  completely  established 
as  the  mechanical  theory  of  heat  it  seems  quite  fair  to  have 
recourse  to  the  eye  of  the  senses  to  aid  the  eye  of  the  mind- 
Brownian  movements  have  already  yielded  up  their  dances 
to  the  motion  picture  camera.  Need  the  "  movies  "  be  the 
only  ones  to  profit  by  the  animated  cartoon? 

Nor  should  the  classical  material  be  forgotten.  Boys' 
experiments  in  soap  bubbles  have  been  the  inspiration  of 
generations  of  students  of  capillarity.  And  if  the  physicist 
will  consult  with  the  physiological  chemist  he  will  find  a 
mass  of  material  of  which  he  never  dreamed  where  these 
phenomena  of  surface  tension  enter  in  a  most  direct  fashion 
to  leading  questions  in  the  life  sciences. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  what  we  consider  the 
methods  of  successful  teaching  of  college  physics.  It  is 
quite  obvious,  we  think,  that  physics  constitutes  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule  that  the  teacher  must  first  of  all  know  and 
understand  his  subject.  Right  here  lies  probably  nine 
tenths  of  the  fault  with  our  pedagogy.  No  amount  of  study 
of  method  will  yield  such  returns  as  the  study  of  the  subject 
itself.  The  honest  student,  and  every  teacher  should  be- 
long to  this  class  or  he  has  no  claim  to  the  name,  is  well 
aware  that  most  of  his  deficiency  in  explaining  a  topic 
is  in  direct  ratio  to  his  own  lack  of  comprehension  of  it. 
In  physics,  as  in  every  other  walk  of  life,  we  suffer  from 
lack  of  thoroughness,  from  a  kind  of  superficiality  that  is 
characteristically  human  but  especially  American.  We 
have  yet  to  know  of  any  one  who  really  ranks  as  a  scholar 
in  his  subject  from  whom  students  do  not  derive  inspiration 
and  enthusiasm.  Such  a  one  usually  pays  little  attention 
to   the   methods  of  others,   for  the  divine   fire  of  knowl- 


The  teacher 
of  scholar- 
ship and 
understand- 
ing is  the 
teacher  who 
nses  soond 
methods 


138 


College  Teaching 


The  method 
of  analysis 
dominant 
in  physics 


edge  itself  does  not  need  much  of  tinder  to  kindle 
the  torches  of  others.  Our  greatest  plea  is  for  our  teachers 
to  be  men  of  understanding,  for  then  they  will  be  found  to 
be  men  of  method. 

The  sequence  in  which  heat,  electricity,  sound,  and  light 
follow  mechanics  seems  quite  immaterial.  Several  equally 
logical  plans  may  be  organized.  Preference  is  usually 
accorded  one  or  the  other  on  the  basis  of  local  conditions 
of  equipment,  and  needs  little  reference  to  pedagogy.  If 
one  gives  to  mechanics  its  proper  importance,  the  difficulty 
in  giving  instruction  in  the  other  topics  seems  very  much 
less.  The  momentum  acquired  seems  to  serve  for  the  bal- 
ance of  the  year.  Always  must  analysis  be  insisted  upon, 
if  our  college  course  is  going  to  differ  from  that  of  the 
high  school.  If  we  are  to  let  students  be  content  to  read 
current  from  an  ammeter  with  a  calibrated  scale  and  not 
have  the  interest  to  inquire  and  the  ambition  to  insist  upon 
the  knowledge  of  how  that  calibration  was  originally  made, 
we  have  no  right  to  claim  any  collegiate  rank  for  our  courses. 
But  if  we  define  electrical  current  in  terms  of  mechanical 
force  which  exhibits  a  balanced  couple  on  a  system  in 
rotational  equilibrium,  there  can  be  no  dodging  of  the  issue, 
for  in  no  other  way  than  by  the  study  of  the  mechanics 
of  the  situation  can  the  content  and  the  limitations  of  our 
definition  be  understood.  Any  college  work,  so  called,  that 
does  less  than  analyze  thus  is  nothing  more  than  a  review 
and  amplification  of  the  material  that  should  be  within  the 
range  of  the  high  school  student  and  in  that  place  presented 
to  him.  The  first  college  course  reveals  a  different  method, 
the  method  of  analysis.  Science  at  the  present  time  is  so 
far  developed  that  in  no  branch  is  progress  made  by  mere 
description  and  classification.  The  method  of  analysis  is 
dominant  in  the  biological  and  the  earth  sciences  as  well 
as  in  the  physics  and  chemistry  of  today. 

On  the  more  advanced  college  courses  which  follow  the 
general  physics  course  little  comment  is  needed.  Problems 
£md  questions  here  also  exist,  but  they  have  a  strongly  local 
color  and  are  out  of  place  in  a  general  discussion.     The 


The  Teaching  of  Physics 


139 


student  body  is  no  longer  composed  of  the  rank  and  file, 
half  of  whom  are  driven,  by  some  requirement  or  other, 
into  work  in  which  they  have  but  *  a  passing  interest  at 
best.  It  is  no  longer  a  problem  of  seeing  how  much  can 
be  made  to  adhere  in  spite  of  indifference,  of  how  firm  a 
foundation  can  be  prepared  for  needs  as  yet  unrecognized 
in  the  subject  of  the  effort.  A  very  limited  number,  com- 
paratively, enter  further  work  of  senior  college  courses, 
and  these  have  either  enthusiasm  or  ability  and  often  both. 
Of  course,  a  cold  neglect  or  bored  indifference  in  the  atti- 
tude of  the  teacher  will  be  resented.  It  will  kill  enthusiasm 
and  send  ability  seeking  inspiration  elsewhere.  But  any 
one  who  is  fond  of  his  subject,  and  of  moderate  ability 
and  industry,  should  have  no  difiBculty  in  developing  senior 
college  work.  If  our  instructor  in  the  general  course  must 
be  a  scholar  to  be  successful,  the  man  in  more  advanced 
work  must  be  one  a  fortiori.  If  he  is  not,  few  who  come  in 
contact  with  him  have  so  little  discernment  as  to  fail  to 
recognize  the  fact. 

Organization  of  senior  college  work  may  be  in  many 
ways.  One  method  where  an  institution  follows  the  quarter 
system  is  the  plan  of  having  eight  or  ten  different  and 
rather  unrelated  twelve-week  major  courses  which  may  be 
taken  in  almost  any  order.  Half  of  these  are  lecture 
courses,  the  other  half  exclusively  laboratory  courses. 
There  should  be  a  correspondence  of  material  to  some  ex- 
tent between  the  two.  Lectures  on  the  kinetic  theory  of 
gases  should  have  a  parallel  course  in  which  the  classical 
experiments  of  the  senior  heat  laboratory  are  performed, — 
such  experiments,  for  example,  as  vapor  density,  resistance 
and  thermocouple  pyrometry,  bomb  calorimetry  viscosity, 
molecular  conductivity,  freezing  and  boiling  points,  recal- 
escence,  etc.  A  course  of  advanced  electrical  measurements 
should  have  a  parallel  lecture  course  in  which  the  theoreti- 
cal aspects  of  electromagnetism,  the  classical  theories,  and 
the  equations  that  represent  transitory  and  equilibrium  con- 
ditions in  complex  circuits  are  discussed.  In  optics,  like- 
wise, there  is  ample  material  of  great  importance:  physical, 


Teaching 
of  advanced 
courses  in 
physics 


Organiza- 
tion of 
advanced 
courses 


140 


College  Teaching 


Bangers  of 
formalizing 
methods  of 
Instrnction 


geometrical  optics,  spectroscopy,  photography.  X-ray  crys- 
tallography, etc.  The  advanced  student  in  these  fields  finds 
more  elasticity  and  opportunity  for  cultivating  a  special  in- 
terest in  having  a  large  number  of  limited  interest  courses 
from  which  to  choose  than  in  having  such  material  presented 
in  a  completely  organized  course  covering  one  or  two  years 
of  complete  work.  Instructors  who  are  specialists  have  op- 
portunity of  working  up  courses  in  their  own  fields  which 
they  do  more  efficiently  under  this  plan.  Research  begins  at 
innumerable  places  along  the  way,  and  the  senior  college 
courses  so  organized  are  the  feeders  of  all  graduate  work. 

In  all  of  the  above  discussion  it  should  be  clearly  re- 
membered that  no  single  plan  or  no  one  particular  method 
has  the  final  word  or  ever  will  have.  As  long  as  a  science 
is  growing  and  unfinished,  points  of  view  will  continually 
be  shifting.  We  are  largely  orthodox  in  our  teaching.  If 
brought  up  on  the  laboratory  method  of  instruction  it  may 
seem  the  best  one  for  us,  but  others  may  prefer  another  way 
which  they  have  inherited.  Let  us  appeal,  then,  for  a  con- 
structive orthodoxy.  Let  us  be  as  teachers  of  a  subject  to 
which  we  are  devoted,  truly  and  sincerely  open-minded, 
quick  to  recognize  and  sincere  in  our  efforts  to  adopt  what 
is  better  wherever  we  meet  it:  waiting  not  to  meet  it, 
either,  but  going  out  to  seek  it.  From  the  humblest  college 
to  the  greatest  university  we  shall  find  it  here  and  there. 
Not  alone  in  schools  but  in  the  legion  of  human  activities 
about  us  on  every  hand  are  people  who  are  doing  things 
more  efficiently,  more  thoroughly,  and  more  skillfully  than 
we  do  things.  If  we  would  be  of  the  number  that  lead,  we 
must  be  among  the  first  to  recognize  these  facts  and  profit 
by  them. 

First,  let  our  work  be  organized  with  respect  to  that  of 
others  —  the  high  schools;  not  discounting  their  labor  but 
having  them  truly  build  for  us. 

Second,  let  us  be  open-minded  enough  to  see  that  all 
methods  of  instruction  have  their  advantages  and  make 
such  combinations  of  the  best  elements  in  each  as  best  suit 


our  purpose. 


The  Teaching  of  Physics  141 

Above  all  things,  let  us  know  our  subject.  Here  is  a  task 
before  which  we  quail  in  this  generation  of  vast  vistas.  But 
there  is  no  alternative  for  us.  No  amount  of  method  will 
remove  the  curse  of  the  superficially  informed.  Let  us  de- 
vote ourselves  to  smaller  fields  if  we  must,  but  let  us  not 
tolerate  ignorance  among  those  who  bear  the  burden 'of 
passing  on,  with  its  flame  ever  more  consuming,  the  torch 
of  knowledge. 

'Harvey  B.  Lemon 

University  of  Chicago 


VII 

THE  TEACHING  OF  GEOLOGY 


Values  of 
the  study  of 
geology 
diverse 


Oeology  a 
study  of  the 
process  of 
evolution 


SO  wide  is  the  scope  of  the  science  of  the  earth,  so  varied 
is  its  subject  matter,  and  so  diverse  are  the  mental 
activities  called  forth  in  its  pursuit,  that  its  function  in  col- 
legiate training  cannot  be  summed  up  in  an  introductory 
phrase  or  two.  Geology  is  so  composite  that  it  is  better 
fitted  to  serve  a  related  group  of  educational  purposes  than 
a  single  one  alone.  Besides  this,  these  possible  services 
have  not  yet  become  so  familiar  that  they  can  be  brought 
vividly  to  mind  by  an  apt  word  or  phrase;  they  need  elabo- 
ration and  exposition  to  be  valued  at  what  they  are  really 
worth.  Geology  is  yet  a  young  science  and  still  growing, 
and  as  in  the  case  of  a  growing  boy,  to  know  what  it  was  a 
few  years  ago  is  not  to  know  what  it  is  today.  Its  dis- 
ciplines take  on  a  realistic  phase  in  the  main,  but  yet  in 
some  aspects  appeal  powerfully  to  the  imagination.  Its 
subject  matter  forms  a  constitutional  history  of  our  planet 
and  its  inhabitants,  but  yet  largely  wears  a  descriptive  or  a 
dynamic  garb. 

Though  basally  historical,  a  large  part  of  the  literature 
of  geology  is  concerned  with  the  description  of  rocks,  struc- 
tural features,  geologic  terrains,  surface  configurations  and 
their  modes  of  formation  and  means  of  identification.  A 
notable  part  of  the  text  prepared  for  college  students  re- 
lates primarily  to  phenomena  and  processes,  leaving  the 
history  of  the  earth  to  follow  later  in  a  seemingly  secondary 
way.  This  has  its  defense  in  a  desire  first  to  make  clear 
the  modes  of  the  geologic  processes,  to  the  end  that  the 
parts  played  by  these  processes  in  the  complexities  of  ac- 
tions that  make  up  the  historical  stages  may  be  better  real- 
ized. This  has  the  effect,  however,  of  giving  the  impres- 
sion that  geology  is  primarily  a  study  of  rocks  and  rock- 
forming  processes,  and  this  impression  is  confirmed  by  the 
great  mass  of  descriptive  literature  that  has  sprung  almost 

142 


The  Teaching  of  Geology 


143 


necessarily  from  the  task  of  delineating  such  a  multitude  of 
formations  before  trying  to  interpret  their  modes  of  origin 
or  to  assign  them  their  places  in  the  history  of  the  earth. 
The  descriptive  details  are  the  indispensable  data  of  a  sound 
history,  and  they  have  in  addition  specific  values  inde- 
pendent of  their  service  as  historical  data.  But  into  the 
multiplicity  and  complexity  of  the  details  of  structure  and 
of  process,  the  average  college  student  can  wisely  enter  to 
a  limited  extent  only,  except  as  they  form  types,  or  appear 
in  the  local  fields  which  he  studies,  where  they  serve  as  con- 
crete examples  of  world-forming  processes. 

The  study  of  these  structures,  formations,  configurations, 
and  processes  yields  each  its  own  special  phase  of  disci- 
pline and  its  own  measure  of  information.  The  work  takes 
on  various  chemical,  mechanical,  and  biological  aspects. 
As  a  means  of  discipline  it  calls  for  keenness  and  diligence 
in  observation,  circumspection  in  inference,  a  judicial  bal- 
ancing of  factors  in  interpretation.  An  active  use  of  the 
scientific  imagination  is  called  forth  in  following  forma- 
tions to  inaccessible  depths  or  beneath  areas  where  they  are 
concealed  from  view. 

While  thus  the  study  of  structures,  formations  and  con- 
figurations constitutes  the  most  obtrusive  phase  of  geo- 
logic study  and  has  given  trend  to  pedagogical  opinion 
respecting  its  place  in  a  college  course,  such  study  is  not, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  the  foremost  function  of  the 
subject  in  a  college  curriculum  that  is  designed  to  be  really 
broad,  basal,  and  free,  in  contradistinction  to  one  that  is 
tied  to  a  specific  vocational  purpose. 

While  we  recognize,  with  full  sympathy,  that  the  subject 
matter  of  geology  enters  vitally  into  certain  vocational  and 
prevocational  courses,  and,  in  such  relations,  calls  for 
special  selections  of  material  and  an  appropriate  handling, 
if  it  is  to  fulfill  these  purposes  effectively,  this  seems  to 
us  aside  from  the  purpose  of  this  discussion,  which  centers 
on  typical  college  training  —  training  which  is  liberal  in 
the  cosmic  sense,  not  merely  from  the  homocentric  point 
of  view. 


Disciplinary 
vrortb  of 
study  of 
geology 


This  study 
concerned 
primarily 
with  the 
typical  col- 
lege course, 
not  with  vo- 
cational 
courses 


144 


College  Teacliing 


Knowledge 
of  geology 
contributes 
to  a  truly 
liberal  edu- 
cation 


Geology 
embraces 
all  the 
great  evo- 
lutions 


To  subserve  these  broader  purposes,  geology  is  to  be 
studied  comprehensively  as  the  evolution  of  the  earth  and 
its  inhabitants.  The  earth  in  itself  is  to  be  regarded  as 
an  organism  and  as  the  foster-parent  of  a  great  series  of 
organisms  that  sprang  into  being  and  pursued  their  careers 
in  the  contact  zones  between  its  rigid  body  and  its  fluidal 
envelopes.  These  contact  zones  are,  in  a  special  sense, 
the  province  of  geography  in  both  its  physical  and  its  biotic 
aspects.  The  evolution  of  the  biotic  and  the  psychic  worlds 
in  these  horizons  is  an  essential  part  of  the  history  of  the 
whole,  for  each  factor  has  reacted  powerfully  on  the  others. 
An  appreciative  grasp  of  these  great  evolutions,  and  of  their 
relations  to  one  another,  is  essential  to  a  really  broad  view 
of  the  world  of  which  we  are  a  part;  it  is  scarcely  less 
than  an  essential  factor  in  a  modern  liberal  education. 

Let  us  agree,  then,  at  the  outset,  that  a  true  study  of 
the  career  of  the  earth  is  not  adequately  compassed  by  a 
mere  tracing  of  its  inorganic  history  or  an  elucidation 
of  its  physical  structure  and  mineral  content,  but  that  it 
embraces  as  well  all  the  great  evolutions  fostered  within 
the  earth's  mantles  in  the  course  of  its  career. 

Greatest  among  these  fostered  evolutions,  from  the  homo- 
centric  point  of  view,  are  the  living,  the  sentient,  and  the 
thinking  kingdoms  that  have  grown  up  with  the  later  phases 
of  the  physical  evolution.  It  does  not  militate  against 
this  view  that  each  of  these  kingdoms  is,  in  itself,  the 
subject  of  special  sciences,  and  that  these,  in  turn,  envelop 
a  multitude  of  sub-sciences,  for  that  is  true  of  every  com- 
prehensive unit.  Nor  is  it  inconsistent  with  this  larger  view 
of  the  scope  of  geology  that  it  is,  itself,  often  given  a 
much  narrower  definition,  as  already  implied.  In  its 
broader  sense,  geology  is  an  enveloping  science,  surveying, 
in  a  broad  historical  way,  many  subjects  that  call  for  in- 
tensive study  under  more  special  sciences,  just  as  human 
history  sweeps  comprehensively  over  a  broad  field  culti- 
vated more  intensively  by  special  humanistic  sciences.  In 
a  comprehensive  study  of  the  earth  as  an  organism,  it  is 
essential  that  there  be  embraced  a  sufficient  consideration 


The  Teaching  of  Geology  145 

of  all  the  vital  factors  that  entered  into  its  history  to  give 
these  their  due  place  and  their  true  value  among  the 
agencies  that  contributed  to  its  evolution.  A  true 
biography  of  the  earth  can  no  more  be  regarded  as  com- 
plete without  the  biotic  and  psychic  elements  that  sprang 
forth  from  it,  or  were  fostered  within  its  mantles,  than  can 
the  biography  of  a  human  being  be  complete  with  a  mere 
sketch  of  his  physical  frame  and  bodily  growth.  The 
physical  and  biological  evolutions  are  well  recognized  as 
essential  parts  of  earth  history.  Although  the  mental  evo- 
lutions have  emerged  gradually  with  the  biological  evolu- 
tions, and  have  run  more  or  less  nearly  parallel  with  them 
—  have,  indeed,  been  a  working  part  of  them  —  they  have 
been  less  fully  and  frankly  recognized  as  elements  of 
geological  history.  They  have  been  rather  scantily  treated 
in  the  literature  of  the  subject;  but  they  are,  none  the 
less,  a  vital  part  of  the  great  history.  They  have  found 
some  recognition,-  though  much  too  meager,  in  the  more 
comprehensive  and  philosophical  treatises  on  earth-science. 
It  may  be  safely  prophesied  that  the  later  and  higher  evo- 
lutions that  grace  our  planet  will  be  more  adequately 
emphasized  as  the  science  grows  into  its  full  maturity  and 
comes  into  its  true  place  among  the  sciences.  It  is  im- 
portant to  emphasize  this  here,  since  it  is  preeminently  the 
function  of  a  liberal  college  course  to  give  precedence  to 
the  comprehensive  and  the  essential,  both  in  its  selection  of 
its  subject  matter  and  in  its  treatment  of  what  it  selects. 
It  is  the  function  of  a  liberal  course  of  study  to  bring  that 
which  is  broad  and  basal  and  vital  into  relief,  and  to  set 
it  over  against  that  which  is  limited,  special,  and  technical, 
however  valuable  the  latter  may  be  in  vocational  training 
and  in  economic  application. 

In  view  of  these  considerations  —  and  frankly  recogniz- 
ing the  inadequacies  of  current  treatment  —  let  us  note,  be- 
fore we  go  further,  what  are  the  physical  and  dynamic 
boundaries  of  the  geologic  field,  that  we  may  the  better 
see  how  that  field  merges  into  the  domains  of  other 
sciences.     This   will  the  better  prepare   us  to   realize   the 


140 


College  Teaching 


Physical  nature  of  the  disciplines  for  which  earth-science  forms  a 
b°^^/"ies*°  suitable  basis,  as  well  as  the  types  of  intellectual  furniture 
of  geology  it  yields  to  the  mind.  Obviously  these  disciplines  and  this 
tionr^r**  substance  of  thought  should  determine  the  place  of  the 
teaching  science  in  the  curriculum  of  any  course  that  assumes  the 
task  of  giving  a   broad   and   liberal   education. 

Earth-science  is  the  domestic  chapter  of  celestial  science. 
Our  planet  is  but  a  modest  unit  among  the  great  celestial 
assemblage  of  worlds;  but,  modest  as  it  is,  it  is  that  unit 
about  which  we  have  by  far  the  fullest  and  most  reliable 
knowledge.  The  earth  not  only  furnishes  the  physical  base- 
line of  celestial  observation,  but  supplies  all  the  appliances 
by  which  inquiry  penetrates  the  depths  of  the  heavens. 
Not  alone  earth-science,  as  such,  but  several  of  the  inten- 
sive sciences  brought  into  being  through  the  intellectual 
evolutions  that  have  attended  the  later  history  of  the  earth, 
have  been  prerequisites  to  the  development  of  the  broad 
science  of  the  outer  heavens.  The  science  of  the  lower 
heavens  is  a  factor  of  earth-science  in  the  definition  we 
are  just  about  to  give.  At  the  same  time,  the  whole  earth, 
including  the  lower  heavens,  is  enveloped  by  the  more  com- 
prehensive domain   of  celestial  science. 

If  we  seek  the  most  logical  limit  that  may  be  assigned  the 
realm  of  earth-science,  as  distinguished  from  that  of 
celestial  science,  of  which  it  is  the  home  unit,  it  may  be 
found  at  that  borderline  within  which  any  passive  body 
obeys  the  call  of  the  earth,  as  against  the  call  of  all  the 
outer  worlds,  and  without  which  such  a  passive  body  obeys 
the  call  of  the  outer  worlds,  the  call  of  the  sun  in  particu- 
lar. This  limit  is  the  dynamic  dividing  line  between  the 
kingdom  of  the  earth  and  the  kingdom  of  the  outer  heavens. 
This  boundary,  according  to  Moulton,  incloses  a  spheroid 
whose  minimum  radius  is  about  620,000  miles,  and  whose 
maximum  radius  is  about  930,000  miles.  We  may,  then, 
conveniently  say  that  the  earth's  sphere  of  control  stretches 
out  a  million  kilometers  from  its  center  and  that  this  de- 
fines its  true  realm.  At  the  same  time,  this  defines  the 
logical  limit  of  the  earth's  ultra-atmosphere  and  appears 


The  Teaching  of  Geology  147 

to  mark  a  zone  of  exchange  between  the  ultra-atmosphere 
of  the  earth  and  the  ultra-atmosphere  of  the  sun.  It  thus 
appears  to  imply  the  place  and  the  mode  of  an  exchange 
of  vital  elements  upon  which  probably  hangs  the  wonder- 
ful maintenance  of  the  earth's  atmosphere  for  many 
millions  of  years  and  the  equally  wonderful  regulation  of 
the  essential  qualities  of  the  atmosphere  so  that  these  have 
always  remained  within  the  narrow  range  subservient  to 
terrestrial  life.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  this  regulation 
also  conditions  the  present  intellectual  status  of  the  think- 
ing factor  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  fearth  out  of  which 
—  may  I  be  pardoned  for  saying?  —  has  grown  the  present 
educational  discussion. 

If  this  last  shall  seem  to  squint  toward  special  pleading, 
let  it  be  considered  that,  as  we  see  things,  it  is  precisely 
those  views  that  take  hold  of  the  issues  upon  which  our  very 
being  and  all  its  activities  depend,  that  serve  best  to  train 
youth  to  broad  views  and  penetrating  thought.  Such  think- 
ing seems  to  me  to  form  the  very  essence  of  a  really  liberal 
education. 

Not  only  is  this  definition  of  the  sphere  of  geology  com- 
prehensive, but  it  has  the  special  merit  of  being  dynamic, 
rather  than  material.  Such  a  dynamic  definition  comports 
with  the  view  that  earth-study  should  center  on  the  forces 
and  energies  that  actuated  its  evolution,  since  these  are  the 
most  vital  feature  of  the  evolution  itself.  It  is  important 
to  form  adequate  concepts  of  the  energies  that  have  main- 
tained the  past  ongoings  of  the  earth  not  only,  but  that  still 
maintain  its  present  activities  and  predetermine  its  future. 
It  is  the  study  of  the  forces  and  the  processes  of  past  and 
of  present  evolutions  that  constitute  the  soul  of  the  science, 
rather  than  the  apparently  fixed  and  passive  aspects  of  the 
earth's  formations  and  configurations  which  are  but  the 
products  of  the  processes  that  have  gone  before.  Even  the 
apparent  passiveness  of  the  geologic  products  is  illusive, 
for  they  are  in  reality  expressions  of  continued  internal 
activities  of  an  intense,  though  occult,  order.  These  escape 
notice  largely  because  they  are  balanced  against  one  another 


148 


College  Teaching 


Geology  the 
means  of 
developing 
scientific 
imagination 
of  time 
and  space 


in  a  system  of  equilibrium  which  pervades  them  and  gives 
them  the  appearance  of  fixity.  To  serve  their  proper  func- 
tions as  sources  of  higher  education,  the  concepts  of  the 
constitution  of  the  earth  should  penetrate  even  to  these 
refined  aspects  of  physical  organization  and  should  bring 
the  whole  into  harmony  with  the  most  advanced  views  of  the 
real  nature  of  physical  organisms.  This  removes  from  the 
whole  terrestrial  organism  every  similitude  of  inertness  and 
gives  it  a  fundamental  refinement,  activity,  and  potency 
of  the  highest  order.  To  form  a  true  and  consistent  con- 
cept, the  enveloping  earth-science  must  be  assumed  to  em- 
brace, potentially  at  least,  the  essentials  of  all  that  was 
evolved  within  it  and  from  it,  with,  of  course,  due  recogni- 
tion of  what  was  added  from  without. 

The  history  of  the  earth  should  therefore  be  taught  in 
college  courses  as  a  succession  of  complex  dynamic  events, 
great  in  the  past  and  great  in  future  potentialities. 

The  formations  and  configurations  left  by  the  successive 
phases  of  action  are  to  be  studied  primarily  as  the  vestiges 
of  the  processes  that  gave  them  birth,  and  hence  as  their 
historic  credentials.  They  are  to  be  looked  upon  less  as 
the  vital  things  in  themselves,  than  as  the  record  of  the 
events  of  the  time  and  as  the  forerunners  of  the  subsequent 
events  that  may  be  potential  in  them.  And  so,  primarily, 
the  geologic  records  are  to  be  scrutinized  to  find  the  deeper 
meanings  which  they  embody,  whether  such  meanings  lie 
in  the  physical,  the  biological,  or  the  psychological  world. 

Turning  to  specific  phases  of  the  subject,  it  may  first 
be  noted  that  geology  is  singularly  suited  to  develop  clear 
visions  of  vast  stretches  of  time;  it  opens  broad  visions 
of  the  panorama  of  world  events,  a  panorama  still  passing 
before  us.  While  the  celestial  order  of  things  no  doubt 
involves  greater  lapses  of  time,  these  are  not  so  easily 
realized,  for  they  are  not  so  well  filled  in  with  a  succession 
of  records  of  the  passing  stages  that  make  up  the  whole. 
But  even  the  lapses  of  geologic  time  are  greater  than  im- 
mature minds  can  readily  grasp;  however,  their  powers  of 
realization   are  greatly   strengthened   by   studying   so   pro- 


TJie  Teaching  of  Geology  149 

traded  a  record,  built  up  stage  upon  stage.  The  very  slow- 
ness with  which  the  geologic  record  was  made,  as  well  as 
the  evidences  of  slowness  in  each  part  of  the  record,  help 
to  draw  out  an  appreciation  of  the  immensity  of  the  whole. 
The  round  period  covered  by  the  more  legible  range  of  the 
geologic  record  rises  to  the  order  of  a  hundred  million 
years,  perhaps  to  several  hundred  million  years.  The  large 
view  of  history  which  this  implies  has  already  come  to 
form  the  ample  background  on  which  are  projected  the 
concepts  of  the  broader  class  of  thinkers;  such  largeness 
of  view  will  quite  surely  be  held  to  be  an  indispensable 
prerequisite  to  the  still  broader  thinking  of  the  future  for 
which  the  better  order  of  students  are  now  preparing. 

While  this  is  preeminently  true  of  the  concept  of  time, 
the  concept  of  space  is  fairly  well  cultivated  by  geologic 
study,  though  far  less  effectively  than  is  done  by  astronomi- 
cal study.  Astronomy  and  geology  work  happily  together 
in  contributing  to  largeness  of  thought. 

The  study  of  the  origin  and  early  history  of  the  earth 
brings  the  student  into  touch  with  the  most  far-reaching 
problems  that  have  thus  far  called  forth  the  intellectual 
efforts  of  man.  If  rightly  handled,  these  great  themes  may 
be  made  to  teach  the  true  method  of  inquiry  into  past 
natural  events  whose  vastness  puts  them  quite  beyond  the 
resources  of  the  laboratory.  This  method  finds  its  key  in 
a  search  for  the  history  of  such  vast  and  remote  events  by 
a  scrutiny  of  the  vestiges  these  events  have  left  as  their 
own  automatic  record.  This  method  stands  in  sharp  con- 
tradistinction to  simple  speculation  without  such  search  for 
talismanic  vestiges,  a  discredited  method  which  is  too  often 
supposed  to  be  the  only  way  of  dealing  with  such  themes. 
To  be  really  competent  in  the  field  of  larger  and  deeper 
thinking,  every  courageous  mind  should  be  able  to  cross 
the  threshold  of  any  of  the  profound  problems  of  the  uni- 
verse with  safe  and  circumspect  steps,  however  certain  it 
may  be  that  only  a  slight  measure  of  penetration  of  the 
problem  may  be  attainable.  A  well-ordered  mind  will  re- 
main at  once  complacent  and  wholesome  when  brought  to 


150 


College  Teaching 


Geology  a 
means  of 
training  in 
thinking  in 
scientific 
experiences 


the  limit  of  its  effort  by  the  limit  of  evidence.  The  prob- 
lem of  the  origin  of  celestial  worlds,  of  which  the  genesis 
of  the  earth  is  the  theme  of  largest  human  interest,  is 
admirably  suited  to  give  college  students  at  once  a  modest 
sense  of  their  limitations  and  a  wholesome  attitude  toward 
problems  of  the  vaster  type.  Without  having  acquired  the 
power  to  make  prudent  and  duly  controlled  excursions  into 
the  vaster  fields  of  thought,  the  mind  can  scarcely  be  said 
to  have  been  liberalized. 

From  the  very  outset,  the  tracing  of  the  earth  history 
forces  a  comprehensive  study  of  the  co-workings  of  the  three 
dominant  states  of  matter  massively  embodied  in  the 
atmosphere,  the  hydrosphere,  and  the  lithosphere,  the  great 
terrestrial  triumvirate.  The  strata  of  the  earth  are  the  joint 
products  of  these  three  elements  and  constitute  their  litho- 
graphic record.  These  three  cooperating  and  contending 
elements  not  only  bring  into  view  the  three  typical  phases 
of  physical  action,  but  they  present  this  action  in  such 
titanic  aspects  as  to  force  the  young  mind  to  think  along 
large  lines,  with  the  great  advantage  that  these  actions  are 
controlled  by  determinate  laws,  while  the  causes  and  the 
results  are  both  tangible  and   impressive. 

While  there  is  a  large  class  of  tangible  and  determinate 
problems  of  this  kind,  embracing  shiftings  of  matter  on  the 
earth's  surface,  distortions  of  strata,  and  changes  of  bodily 
form,  there  are  also  problems  of  a  more  hidden  nature 
such  as  internal  mutations.  These  give  rise  to  mathemati- 
cal, physical,  and  chemical  inquiries  while  at  the  same  time 
they  call  into  play  the  use  of  the  scientific  imagination  and 
are  thus  rich  in  the  possibilities  of  training.  Thus  in  varied 
ways  geological  work  joins  hands  with  chemical,  physical, 
mechanical,  and  mathematical  work. 

When  life  first  appears  in  the  record,  there  is  occasion  to 
raise  the  profound  question  of  its  origin,  and  with  this  arises 
a  closely  related  question  as  to  the  nature  of  the  condi- 
tions that  invited  life,  which  leads  on  to  the  further  ques- 
tion, what  fostered  the  development  of  life  throughout  its 
long  history?     While  the  obscurity  of  the  earliest  record 


The  Teaching  of  Geology  151 

leaves  the  question  of  origin  indeterminate  for  the  present, 
duly  guarded  thought  upon  the  subject  should  foster  a 
wholesome  spirit  toward  inquiry  in  this  vital  line  as  well 
as  a  hospitable  attitude  toward  whatever  solution  may 
finally  await  us.  In  all  such  studies  the  student  should  be 
invited  to  look  to  the  vestiges  left  automatically  by  the 
process  itself  for  the  answer,  and  he  should  learn  to  accept 
the  teachings  of  evidence  precisely  as  it  presents  itself. 
So  also  when  a  problem  is,  for  the  present,  indeterminate, 
it  is  peculiarly  wholesome  for  the  inquirer  to  learn  to  rest 
the  case  where  the  light  of  evidence  fails,  and  to  be  com- 
placent in  such  suspension  of  judgment  and  to  waiit  further 
light  patiently  in  serene  confidence  that  the  vestiges  left 
by  the  actuating  agencies  in  their  constructive  processes 
are  the  surest  index  of  the  ultimate  truth  and  are  likely 
to  be  sooner  or  later  detected  and  read  truly. 

In  the  successive  records  of  past  life  impressed  on  strata   g^omTt"' 
piled  one  upon  another  until  they  form  the  great  paleonto-  botany. 
logic  register,  there  is  an  ample  and  a  solid  basis  for  the  psyc°^ogy 
study  of  the  historic  evolution  of  life.     With  this  also  go   andsocioi- 
evidences  of  the  conditions  that  attended  this  life  progress 
and  that  gave  trend  to  it.     This  record  of  the  relations  of 
life  to  the  environing  physical  conditions  forms  one  of  the 
most  stimulating  fields  of  study  that  can  engage  the  student 
who  seeks  light  on  the  great  problems  of  biological  progress. 
Here  geology  joins  hands  with  botany  and  zoology  in  a 
mutual  helpfulness  that  is  scarcely  less  than  indispensable 
to  each. 

Following,  or  perhaps  immediately  attending,  the  intro- 
duction of  physiological  life,  there  appeared  signs  of  senti- 
ent life.  The  preservation  of  certain  of  the  sense  organs, 
taken  together  with  the  collateral  evidences  of  sense  action, 
as  early  as  Cambrian  times,  furnish  the  groundwork  for  a 
historical  study  of  the  progress  of  sentient  life,  eventuating 
in  the  higher  forms  of  mental  life.  Here  the  problems 
of  geology  run  hand  in  hand  with  the  problems  of 
psychology.  The  limitations  of  the  evidence  bearing  on 
psychological  phenomena,  while  regrettable,  are  not  with- 


152  College  Teaching 

out  some  compensation  in  that  they  center  the  attention 
on  the  simpler  aspects  of  the  protracted  deployment  of  the 
psychological  functions. 

In  addition  to  the  clear  evidences  of  psychic  action, 
in  at  least  its  elementary  forms,  there  appeared  early  in 
the  straligraphic  records  intimations  of  some  of  the  rela- 
tionships that  sentient  beings  then  bore  to  one  another; 
and  this  relationship  gives  occasion  to  study  the  primitive 
aspects  of  sociological  phenomena.  If  nothing  more  is 
learned  than  the  important  lesson  that  sociology  is  not  a 
thing  of  today,  not  an  untried  realm  inviting  all  kinds 
of  ill-digested  projects,  but  on  the  contrary  is  a  field  of 
vast  and  instructive  history,  the  gain  will  not  be  incon- 
siderable. There  are  intimations  of  the  early  existence 
and  effective  activity  of  those  affections  that  precede  and 
that  cluster  about  the  parental  relationship,  the  nucleus  of 
the  most  vital  of  all  the  sociological  relationships.  In 
contrast  to  the  affections,  there  are  distinct  evidences  of 
antagonistic  relations,  of  pursuit  and  capture,  of  attack  and 
defense;  there  were  tools  of  warfare  and  devices  for  pro- 
tection. In  time,  a  wide-ranging  series  of  experiments,  so 
to  speak,  were  tried  to  secure  advantage,  to  avoid  suffer- 
ing, to  escape  death,  and  to  preserve  the  species.  There 
were  even  suggestions  of  the  cruder  forms  of  government. 
The  many  stages  in  the  evolution  of  the  various  devices, 
as  well  as  the  stages  of  their  abandonment,  that  followed 
one  another  in  the  course  of  the  ages  recorded  the  results 
of  a  multitude,  of  efforts  at  sociological  adjustment.  They 
raise  the  question  whether  a  common  set  of  guiding  prin- 
ciples does  not  underlie  all  such  relationships,  earlier  and 
later,  whatever  their  rank  in  our  scale  of  valuation.  And 
so  this  great  field  of  inquiry  —  too  narrowly  regarded 
as  merely  humanistic  —  comes  inlo  view  early  in  the  history 
of  the  earth.  The  geological  and  the  sociological  sciences 
find  in  it  common  working  ground.  If  the  geologic  and 
the  humanistic  sciences  are  given  each  their  widest  interpre- 
tation and  their  freest  application,  the  advantage  cannot  be 
other  than  mutual. 


The  J* caching  of  Geology  153 

It  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  studies  in  the 
physiological,  the  psychological,  the  sociological,  and  the 
allied  fields  necessarily  lack  completeness  if  they  do  not 
bring  into  their  purview  the  data  of  their  common  historical 
record  traced  as  far  back  as  it  is  found  to  contain  intima- 
tions of  their  actual  extension. 

It  is  customary  to  speak  of  the  geologic  ages  as  though 
they  were  wholly  past;  they  are,  indeed,  chiefly  past  as 
the  record  now  stands,  but  time  runs  on  and  earth  history 
continues;  the  processes  of  the  past  are  still  active,  and 
they  are  likely  to  work  on  far  into  the  future.  And  so 
geologic  study  links  itself  fundamentally  into  all  such 
present  terrestrial  interests  as  take  hold  of  the  distant  future. 
The  forecast  of  the  earth's  endurance,  attended  by  condi- 
tions congenial  to  life  and  to  the  mental  and  moral  activi- 
ties, hinges  on  a  sound  insight  into  the  great  actuating 
forces  inherent  in  the  earth,  together  with  those  likely  to 
come  into  play  from  the  celestial  environment.  All  human 
interests,  in  so  far  as  they  are  dependent  on  a  protracted 
future,  center  in  the  prognosis  of  the  earth  based  on  its 
present  and  its  past.  The  latest  phases  of  geologic  doctrine 
prophesy  a  long  future  habitability  of  the  earth.  They 
thus  give  meaning  and  emphasis  to  the  deeper  purposes 
sought  in  all  the  higher  endeavors,  not  the  least  of  which 
is  education,  particularly  those  phases  of  education  that 
lead  to  effects  which  may  be  handed  down  from  age  to  age. 

Out  of  all  this  vast  physical,  biological,  and  psychological    standard 

history,  the  things  to  be  selected  for  substance  of  thought  ing  subject 

and  for  service  in  mental  training  in  a  college  course  are,   matter  for 

the  general 
first  of  all,  those  that  are  either  fundamental  in  themselves,   coUoge 

or  that  have  vital  bearings  on  what  is  fundamental.     These   ge^e^'funda- 

are  chiefly  the  great  dynamic  factors,  the  agencies  that  gave   mentals  or 

trend   to   the  master   events,   the   forces  that   actuated   the   beaxron'^'* 

basal   processes  by  which  the  vast  results  were  attained,   funda- 

The   material   formations  and  the   surficial   configurations 

that  resulted  are  to  be  duly  considered,  to  be  sure,  for  they 

form  the  basis  of  interpretation  and  they  are,  besides,  the 

repositories  of  economic  values   of   indispensable   worth; 


154  College  Teaching 

but,  as  already  urged,  in  a  course  of  intellectual  training, 
these  are  to  be  regarded  rather  as  the  relics  of  the  great 
agencies  and  the  proofs  of  their  actions,  than  as  the  most 
vital  subjects  of  study,  which  are  the  agencies  themselves. 
As  already  remarked,  the  geologic  formations  are  to  be 
treated  rather  as  the  credentials  of  the  potencies  that  reside 
in  the  earth  organism,  than  as  the  vital  things  themselves. 
The  vestiges  of  creation  and  the  footprints  of  historical 
progress  embody  the  soul  of  the  subject;  they  constitute 
the  chief  source  of  inspiration  to  those  who  aspire  to  think 
in  large,  deep  ways  of  really  great  things.  It  is  of  little 
value,  from  the  viewpoint  of  liberal  culture,  to  know  that 
there  is  a  certain  succession  of  sandstones,  shales,  and  lime- 
stones; that  professional  convention  has  given  them  certain 
names,  more  or  less  infelicitous  in  derivation  and  in  phonic 
quality;  but  it  is  of  vital  consequence  to  learn  how  and 
why  these  relics  of  former  processes  came  to  be  left  as 
they  were  left,  and  thus  came  to  be  witnesses  to  the  history 
of  the  far  past.  It  was  a  wise  thing,  no  doubt,  that  the 
fathers  of  geology  strongly  insisted  that  there  should  be 
a  rigorous  and  rather  literal  adhesion  to  the  terrestrial 
record  in  all  earth  studies,  because  in  those  times  of  transi- 
tion from  the  loose,  more  or  less  fantastic  thought  that 
marked  the  adolescent  stage  of  the  human  race,  it  was  im- 
perative that  students  should  stick  close  to  the  immediate 
evidence  of  what  had  transpired,  and  should  withhold  them- 
selves from  much  enlargement  of  view  based  on  the  less 
tangible  evidences;  but  at  the  present  stage,  when  the  gen- 
eral nature  of  the  earth's  history  has  been  firmly  established, 
it  would  be  an  error  on  the  part  of  those  who  seek  for  the 
most  liberalizing  and  broadening  values  of  the  science,  to 
treat  the  record  merely  as  a  material  register  of  immediate 
import  only,  to  the  neglect  of  the  less  tangible  but  more 
vital  teachings  immanent  in  its  great  forces  and  processes. 
The  seeker  of  liberal  culture  should  direct  his  attention 
to  the  great  events,  and,  above  all,  to  the  larger  and  deeper 
meanings  implied  by  these  events. 

And  so  —  may  I  be  pardoned  for  reemphasizing? — the 


The  Teaching  of  Geology  155 

teacher  of  geology  whose  essential  purpose  is  liberal  train- 
ing, leading  to  broad  and  firm  knowledge  and  to  sound 
processes  of  thought,  will  critically  observe  the  distinction 
between  geology  taught  appropriately  from  the  collegiate 
point  of  view,  and  geology  taught  specifically  from  the  pro- 
fessional and  technical  poinls  of  view.  In  these  latter, 
specific  details  in  specific  lines  are  important,  and  may  even 
be  essential,  but  it  is  the  function  of  the  college  teacher 
of  geology  to  select  from  the  great  mass  of  material  of  the 
science  such  factors  as  are  basal,  vital,  and  talismanic.  He 
will  give  these  emphasis,  while  he  neglects  the  multitude  of 
details  that  lack  significance  as  working  elements  or  as 
landmarks  of  progress,  whatever  their  value  in  other  rela- 
tions. This  selection  is  equally  important,  whether  applied 
to  the  great  physical  processes  that  have  shaped  the  earth 
into  its  present  configuration,  or  to  the  great  chemical  and 
mineralogical  processes  that  have  determined  its  texture 
and  its  structure,  or  to  the  great  biological  and  psychologi- 
cal processes  that  have  given  trend  to  the  development  of 
its  inhabitants. 

Even  if  the  undergraduate  course  in  geology  is  pursued 
less  for  the  purpose  of  liberal  culture  than  as  a  means 
of  preparing  for  a  professional  career  as  an  economic 
geologist,  no  essential  departure  from  an  effort  to  master 
first  the  basal  features  and  the  broader  aspects  of  the 
science,  especially  the  dynamic  aspects,  is  to  be  advised. 
The  shortest  road  to  declared  success  in  professional  and 
economic  geology  lies  through  the  early  mastery  of  its 
fundamentals.  No  doubt  immediate  and  apparent  success 
may  often  be  sooner  reached  by  a  narrower  and  shallower 
study  of  such  special  phases  of  the  subject  as  happen 
just  now  to  be  most  obviously  related  to  the  existing  state  of 
the  industries;  but  industrial  demands  are  constantly 
changing  —  indeed,  at  present,  rather  rapidly  —  and  new 
aspects  follow  one  another  in  close  succession.  These  new 
aspects  almost  inevitably  spring  from  the  more  basal  factors 
as  these  rise  into  function  with  the  progress  of  experience 
or  the  stress  of  new  demands.     Those  who  have  sought  only 


156  College  Teaching 

the  immediate  and  the  superficial,  at  the  expense  of  the 
basal,  and  especially  those  who  have  neglected  to  acquire 
the  power  and  the  disposition  to  search  out  the  funda- 
mentals, are  quite  sure  to  be  left  among  the  unfortunates 
who  trail  behind;  they  are  little  likely  to  be  found  among 
those  who  lead  at  the  times  when  leadership  counts.  In 
the  judgment  of  those  master  minds  that  lead  in  affairs 
and  that  take  large  and  penetrating  views,  the  lines  along 
which  the  most  vital  contributions  to  economic  interests 
are  being  made  connect  closely  with  basal  studies  of  the 
actuating  agencies  that  condition  great  enterprises.  In  the 
judgment  of  the  writer,  it  is  a  false  view  to  suppose  that 
any  short,  superficial  study  of  so  vast  a  subject  as  the  con- 
stitution and  history  of  the  earth  can  result  in  economic 
competency.  In  so  far  as  time  for  study  is  limited,  it 
should  be  concentrated  on  the  great  underlying  factors  that 
constitute  the  essentials  of  the  science.  It  is  here  assumed 
that  men  who  care  to  take  a  college  course  at  all  are 
seeking  for  a  large  success  and  are  ambitious  for  a  high 
personal  career.  If  they  look  ultimately  to  professional 
work  in  economic  lines,  they  may  safely  be  advised  that  the 
straight  road  to  declared  success  lies  in  a  search  for  the 
vital  forces,  the  critical  agencies,  and  the  profound  prin- 
ciples that  make  for  great  results,  not  along  the  by-paths 
whose  winding,  superficial  courses  are  turned  hither  and 
thither  by  adventitious  conditions  whose  very  nature  invites 
distrust  rather  than  confidence. 
Evaluations  Turning  to  some  of  the  more  formal  phases  of  treat- 
of teaching  nient,  three  types  of  work  are  presented:  (1)  the  use  of 
nature's  laboratory,  the  world  itself,  (2)  the  use  of  the 
college  collections  and  laboratories,  and  (3)  the  use  of  the 
literature  of  the  subject. 

(1)  Fortunately,  there  is  no  place  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
where  there  is  not  some  natural  material  for  geologic  study, 
for  even  in  the  most  artificiali?ed  locations  geological 
processes  are  active.  In  crowded  cities  these  processes  may 
be  easily  overlooked,  but  yet  they  are  susceptible  of  effec- 
tive use.     Within   easy   access   from  almost  every  college 


The  Teaching  of  Geology  157 

site  there  are  serviceable  fields  of  study,  and  these,  in  any 
live  course,  will  be  assiduously  cultivated.  They  may  be 
relatively  modest  in  their  phenomena;  they  may  seem  to 
lack  that  impressiveness  which  has  played  so  large  a  part 
in  the  popular  notion  of  the  content  of  geology,  but  they 
may  nevertheless  serve  as  most  excellent  training  grounds 
for  young  geologists.  If  students  are  so  situated  as  to  be 
brought  at  the  beginning  of  study  under  the  influence  of 
very  impressive  displays  of  geologic  phenomena  — 
precipitous  mountains,  rugged  cliffs,  deep  canons,  and  the 
like  —  there  is  danger  that  their  mental  habits  may  become 
diffusive  rather  than  close  and  keen;  the  emotions  may  be 
called  forth  in  wonder  rather  than  turned  into  zest  in  the 
search  for  evidence.  If  students  are  to  be  trained  to 
diligence  in  inquiry  and  to  the  highest  virility  in  inference 
and  interpretation,  it  is  perhaps  fortunate  for  them  if  they 
are  located  where  only  modest  records  of  geological  pro- 
cesses are  presented  for  study.  In  such  regions  they  are 
more  likely  to  be  led  to  scrutinize  the  field  keenly,  sharply, 
and  diligently  for  data  on  which  to  build  their  interpreta- 
tions. The  scientific  use  of  their  imaginations  is  all  the 
better  trained  if,  in  their  endeavor  to  build  up  a  consistent 
concept  of  the  whole  structure  that  underlies  their  field, 
they  are  forced  to  project  their  inferences  from  a  few  out- 
crops far  beneath  thd  cover  of  the  adjacent  mantle  that  shuts 
off"  direct  vision.  Few  teachers  have,  therefore,  any  real 
occasion  to  long  for  richer  fields  than  those  accessible  to 
them,  if  they  have  the  tact  to  render  these  fertile  in  stimulus 
and  suggestion. 

(2)  Laboratory  work  upon  the  material  collected  in  the 
field  work,  as  well  as  laboratory  work  upon  the  college 
collections,  are  essential  adjuncts.  Ample  provisions  for 
this  supplementary  work,  however  modest  the  appointments, 
are  important  and  can  usually  be  secured  by  ingenuity  and 
diligence  in  spite  of  financial  limitations. 

Both  field  and  laboratory  work  should  be  well  correlated 
with  one  another  and  with  the  systematic  work  on  the  text 
that  guides  the  study,  so  that  each  shall  whet  the  edge  of 


158  College  Teaching 

the  other  and  all  together  accomplish  what  neither  could 
alone. 

(3)  The  text  selected  should  be  such  as  lends  itself,  in 
some  notable  degree  at  least,  to  the  general  purposes  set 
forth  above.  It  should  be  supplemented,  so  far  as  may  be, 
by  judicious  assignments  for  reading  and  for  special  study. 
Lectures  may  be  made  a  valuable  aid  to  the  discussions  of 
the  classroom,  but  with  college  classes  they  can  rarely  be 
made  an  advantageous  substitute  for  the  discussions.  Lec- 
turing, so  far  as  used,  is  best  woven  informally  into  the 
classroom  discussions.  Supplementary  lecturettes  may  be 
advised  if  they  are  of  such  an  informal  sort  that  they  may 
almost  unconsciously  take  their  start  from  any  vital  point 
encountered  in  the  course  of  discussion,  may  run  on  as  far 
as  the  occasion  invites,  and  may  then  give  way  again  to  the 
discussion  with  the  utmost  informality.  Such  little  partici- 
pations in  the  work  of  the  classroom,  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher,  are  likely  to  be  cordially  welcomed.  At  the  same 
time,  if  well  done,  they  will  set  an  excellent  example  in 
the  presentative  art  as  also  in  an  apt  organization  of 
thought. 
Organiza-  j£  jj^g  stated   course  in   earth-science  is  limited   to  the 

courses  junior  and  senior  years  by  the  existing  requirements  of  the 

curriculum  of  the  institution  or  by  the  rulings  of  its  officers 
—  as  is  not  uncommonly  the  case  at 'present  —  it  is  rela- 
tively immaterial  whether  the  sections  of  the  course  are 
marshaled  under  the  single  name  "  geology  "  or  whether 
they  are  given  separate  titles  as  sub-sciences,  provided  the 
special  subjects  are  arranged  in  logical  sequence  and  in  con- 
secutive order.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  teacher's  choice 
of  time  and  relations  is  freer,  the  more  accessible  phases 
of  earth  study,  now  well  organized  under  the  name  of 
"  physiography,"  form  an  excellent  course  for  either  fresh- 
men or  sophomores.  It  opens  their  minds  to  a  world  of 
interesting  activities  about  them  which  have  probably  been 
largely  overlooked  in  previous  years.  .It  gives  them  sub- 
stance of  thought  that  will  be  of  much  service  in  the  pursuit 
of  other  sciences.     It  has  been  found  that  it  is  not  without 


The  Teaching  of  Geology  159 

rather  notable  service  to  young  students  as  the  basis  of 
efforts  in  the  art  of  literary  presentation,  a  felicity  to  which 
teachers  of  this  important  art  frequently  give  emphatic 
testimony.  The  secret  seems  to  lie  in  the  fact  that 
physiography  gives  varied  and  vivid  material  susceptible  of 
literary  presentation,  while  the  fixed  qualities  of  the  subject 
matter  control  the  choice  of  terms  and  the  mode  of  expres- 
sion. 

If  geography  and  physiography  are  given  in  the  earlier 
years,  the  course  in  historical  geology,  as  well  as  the  study 
of  the  more  difficult  phases  of  geological  processes,  of  the 
principles  of  dynamic  geology,  together  with  mineralogy, 
petrology,  and  paleontology,  may  best  fall  into  the  later 
years,  even  if  some  interval  separates  them  from  the 
geography  and   physiography. 

One  hundred  and  twenty  classroom  hours,  or  their 
equivalent  in  laboratory  and  field  work,  are  perhaps  to  be 
regarded  as  the  irreducible  minimum  in  a  well-balanced 
undergraduate  course,  while  twice  that  time  or  more  is  re- 
quired to  give  a  notably  strong  college  course  in  earth- 
science. 

A  consideration  of  the  sequences  among  the  geological 
sub-subjects,  as  also  among  the  subjects  that  are  held  to  be 
preliminary  to  the  earth-sciences,  is  important,  but  it  would 
lead  us  too  far  into  details  which  depend  more  or  less  on 
local  conditions.  In  the  experience  of  American  teachers 
it  appears  to  have  been  found  advisable  to  put  geological 
processes  and  typical  phenomena  to  the  front  and  to  take 
up  geological  history  afterwards.  The  earlier  method  of 
taking  up  the  history  first,  beginning  with  recent  stages 
and  working  backward  down  the  ages, —  once  in  vogue 
abroad, —  has  been  abandoned  in  this  country.  It  was  the 
order  in  which  the  science  was  developed  and  it  had  the 
advantage  of  starting  with  the  living  present  and  with  the 
most  accessible  formations,  but  this  latter  advantage 
is  secured  by  studying  the  living  processes,  as  such,  first, 
and  turning  to  the  history  later.  This  permits  the  study  of 
the  history  in  its  natural  order,  which  seems  better  to  call 


160  College  Teaching 

forth  the  relations  of  cause  and  effect  and  to  give  emphasis 
to  the  influence  of  inherited  conditions. 

Respecting  antecedents  to  the  study,  the  more  knowl- 
edge of  physics,  chemistry,  zoology,  and  botany,  the  better, 
but  it  is  easy  to  over-stress  the  necessity  for  such  prepara- 
tion, however  logical  it  may  seem,  for  in  reality  all  the 
natural  sciences  are  so  interwoven  that,  in  strict  logic,  a 
complete  knowledge  of  all  the  others  should  be  had  before 
any  one  is  begun,  a  reductio  ad  absurdum.  The  sciences 
have  been  developed  more  or  less  contemporaneously  and 
progressively,  each  helping  on  the  others.  They  may  be 
pursued  much  in  the  same  way,  or  by  alternations  in  which 
each  prior  study  favors  the  sequent  one.  They  may  even 
be  taken  in  a  seemingly  illogical  order  without  serious  dis- 
advantage, for  the  alternative  advantages  and  other  consid- 
erations may  outweigh  the  force  of  the  logical  order,  which 
is  at  best  only  partially  logical.  It  is  of  prime  importance 
to  stimulate  in  students  a  habit  of  observing  natural 
phenomena  at  an  early  age.  It  may  be  wise  for  a  student 
to  take  up  physiography,  or  its  equivalent,  early  in  the 
college  course,  irrespective  of  an  ideal  preparation  in  the 
related  sciences.  It  is  unfortunate  to  defer  such  study  to  a 
stage  when  the  student's  natural  aptitude  for  observation 
and  inference  has  become  dulled  by  neglect  or  by  confine- 
ment to  subjects  devoid  of  naturalistic  stimulus.  To  permit 
students  to  take  up  earth-science  in  the  freshman  and 
sophomore  years,  even  without  the  ideal  preparation,  is 
therefore  probably  wiser  than  to  defer  the  study  beyond  the 
age  of  responsiveness  to  the  touch  of  the  natural  environ- 
ment. The  geographic  and  geologic  environment  condi- 
tioned the  mental  evolution  of  the  race.  It  left  an  inherited 
impress  on  the  perceptive  and  emotional  nature,  only  to  be 
awakened  most  felicitously,  it  would  seem,  at  about  the  age 
at  which  the  naturalistic  phases  of  the  youth's  mentality 
were  originally  called  into  their  most  intense  exercise. 

T.  C.  Chamberun 

The  University  of  Chicago 


VIII 
THE  TEACHING  OF  MATHEMATICS 


IN  recent  years  the  teaching  of  mathematics  has  under-  Recent 
1111  •  •         1       I  changes 

gone  remarkable  changes  m  many  countries,  both  as  re-   and  some 

gards  method  and  as  regards  content.  With  respect  to  "^y^®^ 
college  mathematics  these  changes  have  been  evidenced  by 
a  growing  emphasis  on  applications  and  on  the  historic 
setting  of  the  various  questions.  To  understand  one  direct 
source  of  these  changes  it  is  only  necessary  to  recall  the 
fact  that  in  about  1880  there  began  a  steady  stream  of 
American  mathematical  students  to  Europe,  especially  to 
Germany.  Most  of  these  students  entered  the  faculties  of 
our  colleges  and  universities  on  their  return  to  America. 
It  is  therefore  of  great  importance  to  inquire  what  mathe- 
matical  situation   served   to   inspire   these  students. 

The  German  mathematical  developments  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century  exhibited  a  growing  tendency 
to  disregard  applications.  It  was  not  until  about  1890  that 
a  strong  movement  was  inaugurated  to  lay  more  stress  on 
applied  mathematics  in  Germany.^  Our  early  American 
students  therefore  brought  with  them  from  Germany  a  de- 
cided tendency  toward  investigations  in  mathematical  fields 
remote  from  direct  contact  with  applications  to  other 
scientific  subjects,  such  as  physics  and  astronomy,  which 
had  so  largely  dominated  mathematical  investigations  in 
earlier  years. 

This  picture  would,  however,  be  very  incomplete  with- 
out exhibiting  another  factor  of  a  similar  type  working  in 
our  own  midst.  J.  J.  Sylvester  was  selected  as  the  first 
professor  of  mathematics  at  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
which  opened  its  doors  in  1876  and  began  at  once  to  wield 
a  powerful  influence  in  starting  young  men  in  higher  re- 
search.    Sylvester's  own  investigations  related  mainly  to  the 

1  P.  Ziihlke.     Zeitschrift  fur  Mathematischen  und  Naturwissenschajt- 
lichen  Unterricht,  Vol.  45  (1915),  page  483. 

161 


162 


College  Teaching 


Influence  of 
researches  In 
mathematics 
on  methods 
of  teaching 


formal  and  abstract  side  of  mathematics.  Moreover,  "  he 
was  a  poor  teacher  with  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  mathe- 
matical literature.  He  possessed,  however,  an  extraor- 
dinary personality,  and  had  in  remarkable  degree  the  gift 
of  imparting  enthusiasm,  a  quality  of  no  small  value  in 
pioneer  days  such  as  these  were  with  us."  ^ 
.  Mathematical  research  was  practically  introduced  into  the 
American  colleges  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  the  wave  of  enthusiasm  which  attended  this 
introduction  was  unfortunately  not  suflSciently  tempered  by 
emphasis  on  good  teaching  and  breadth  of  knowledge, 
especially  as  regards  applications.  In  fact,  the  leading 
mathematician  in  America  during  the  early  part  of  this 
period  was  glaringly  weak  along  these  lines.  By  means 
of  his  bountiful  enthusiasm  he  was  able  to  do  a  large 
amount  of  good  for  the  selected  band  of  gifted  students 
who  attended  his  lectures,  but  some  of  these  were  not  so 
fortunate  in  securing  the  type  of  students  who  are  helped 
more  by  the  direct  enthusiasm  of  their  teacher  than  by  the 
indirect  enthusiasm  resulting  from  good  teaching. 

The  need  of  good  mathematical  teaching  in  our  colleges 
and  universities  began  to  become  more  pronounced  at  about 
the  time  that  the  wave  of  research  enthusiasm  set  in,  as  a 
result  of  the  growing  emphasis  on  technical  education  which 
exhibited  itself  most  emphatically  in  the  development  of  the 
schools  of  engineering.  While  the  student  who  is  specially 
interested  in  mathematics  may  be  willing  to  get  along  with 
a  teacher  whose  enthusiasm  for  the  new  and  general  leads 
him  to  neglect  to  emphasize  essential  details  in  the  presenta- 
tion, the  average  engineering  student  insists  on  clearness 
in  presentation  and  usability  of  the  results.  As  the  latter 
student  does  not  expect  to  become  a  mathematical  specialist, 
he  is  naturally  much  more  interested  in  good  teaching  than 
in  the  mathematical  reputation  of  his  teacher,  even  if 
his  reputation  is  not  an  entirely  insignificant  factor  for 
him. 

^  Qtmmittee  No.  XII.  American  Report  of  the  International  G>mn)i8- 
sion  on  the  Teaching  of  Mathematics,  1912,  page  9. 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics         .163 

During  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  the 
first  decade  of  the  present  century  the  mathematical  de- 
partments of  our  colleges  and  universities  faced  an  un- 
usually serious  situation  as  a  result  of  the  conditions  just 
noted.  The  new  wave  of  research  enthusiasm  was  still  in 
its  youthful  vigor  and  in  its  youthful  mood  of  inconsider- 
ateness  as  regards  some  of  the  most  important  factors.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  of  the  departments  of  engineering 
had  become  strong  and  were  therefore  able  to  secure  the 
type  of  teaching  suited  to  their  needs.  In  a  number  of 
institutions  this  led  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  mathematical 
department  into  two  or  more  separate  departments  aiming 
to  meet  special  needs. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  mathematical  needs  of  these 
various  classes  of  students  have  so  much  in  common,  lead- 
ing mathematicians  viewed  with  much  concern  this  tendency 
to  disrupt  many  of  the  stronger  departments.  Hence  the 
question  of  good  teaching  forced  itself  rapidly  to  the  front. 
It  was  commonly  recognized  that  the  students  of  pure 
mathematics  profit  by  a  study  of  various  applications  of 
the  theories  under  consideration,  and  that  the  students  who 
expect  to  work  along  special  technical  lines  gain  by  getting 
broad  and  comprehensive  views  of  the  fundamental  mathe- 
matical questions  involved.  Moreover,  it  was  also  recog- 
nized that  the  investigational  work  of  the  instructors  would 
gain  by  the  broader  scholarship  secured  through  greater 
emphasis  on  applications  and  the  historic  setting  of  the 
various  problems  under  consideration. 

To  these  fundamental  elements  relating  to  the  improve- 
ment of  college  teaching  there  should  perhaps  be  added  one 
arising  from  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  number 
of  men  possessing  excellent  mathematical  research  ability 
was  much  smaller  than  the  number  of  positions  in  the 
mathematical  departments  of  our  colleges  and  universities. 
The  publication  of  inferior  research  results  is  of  question- 
able value.  On  the  other  hand,  many  who  could  have  done 
excellent  work  as  teachers  by  devoting  most  of  their  energies 
to  this  work  became  partial  failures  both  as  teachers  and  as 


164  College  Teaching 


investigators  through  their  ambition  to  excel  in  the  latter 
direction. 
Range  of  It  should  be  emphasized  that  the  college  and  university 

preparation  teachers  of  mathematics  have  to  deal  with  a  wide  range 
of  students  of  subjects  and  conditions,  especially  where  graduate  work 
is  carried  on.  Advanced  graduate  students  have  needs 
which  differ  widely  from  those  of  the  freshmen  who  aim  to 
become  engineers.  This  wide  range  of  conditions  calls  for 
unusual  adaptability  on  the  part  of  the  college  and  univer- 
sity teacher.  This  range  is  much  wider  than  that  which 
confronts  the  teachers  in  the  high  school,  and  the  lack  of 
sufficient  adaptability  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  college 
teachers  is  probably  responsible  for  the  common  impres- 
sion that  some  of  the  poorest  mathematical  teaching  is  done 
in  the  colleges.  It  is  doubtless  equally  true  that  some  of 
the  very  best  mathematical  teaching  is  to  be  found  in  these 
institutions. 

In  some  of  the  colleges  there  has  been  a  tendency  to 
diminish  the  individual  range  of  mathematical  teaching  by 
explicitly  separating  the  undergraduate  work  and  the  more 
advanced  work.  For  instance,  in  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
L.  S.  Hulburt  was  appointed  "  Professor  of  Collegiate 
Mathematics "  in  1897,  with  the  understanding  that  he 
should  devote  himself  to  the  interests  of  the  undergraduates. 
In  many  of  the  larger  universities  the  younger  members  of 
the  department  usually  teach  only  undergraduate  courses, 
while  some  of  the  older  members  devote  either  all  or  most 
of  their  time  to  the  advanced  work;  but  there  is  no  uni- 
formity in  this  direction,  and  the  present  conditions  are 
often  unsatisfactory. 

The  undergraduate  courses  in  mathematics  in  the  Ameri- 
can colleges  and  universities  differ  considerably.  The 
normal  beginning  courses  now  presuppose  a  year  of 
geometry  and  a  year  and  a  half  of  algebra  in  addition  to 
the  elementary  courses  in  arithmetic,  but  much  higher  re- 
quirements are  sometimes  imposed,  especially  for  engineer- 
ing courses.  In  recent  years  several  of  the  largest  universi- 
ties have  reduced  the  minimum  admission  requirement  in 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics         165 

algebra  to  one  year's  work,  but  students  entering  with  this 
minimum  preparation  are  sometimes  not  allowed  to  proceed 
with  the  regular  mathematical  classes  in  the  university. 

Freshmen  courses  in  mathematics  differ  widely,  but  the   variety  of 
most  common  subjects  are  advanced  algebra,  plane  trigo-   courses  in 
nometry,  and  solid  geometry.     The  most  common  subjects  mathematics 
of   a   somewhat   more   advanced    type   are   plane   analytic 
geometry,  differential  and  integral  calculus,  and  spherical 
trigonometry.     Beyond  these  courses  there  is  much  less  uni- 
formity, especially  in  those  institutions  which  aim  to  com- 
plete a   well-rounded   undergraduate  mathematical   course 
rather  than  to  prepare  for  graduate  work.     Among  the  most 
common  subjects  beyond  those  already  named  are  differen- 
tial equations,  theory  of  equations,  solid  analytic  geometry, 
and  mechanics. 

A  very  important  element  affecting  the  mathematical 
courses  in  recent  years  is  the  rapid  improvement  in  the 
training  of  our  teachers  in  the  secondary  schools.  This  has 
led  to  the  rapid  introduction  of  courses  which  aim  to  lead 
up  to  broad  views  in  regard  to  the  fundamental  subjects. 
In  particular,  courses  relating  to  the  historical  development 
of  concepts  involved  therein  are  receiving  more  and  more 
attention.  Indirect  historical  sources  have  become  much 
more  plentiful  in  recent  years  through  the  publication  of 
various  translations  of  ancient  works  and  through  the  pub- 
lication of  extensive  historical  notes  in  the  Encyclopedic 
des  Sciences  Mathematiques  and  in  other  less  extensive 
works   of   reference. 

The  problem  presented  by  those  who  are  preparing  to 
teach  mathematics  may  at  first  appear  to  differ  widely  from 
that  presented  by  those  who  expect  to  become  engineers. 
The  latter  are  mostly  interested  in  obtaining  from  their 
mathematical  courses  a  powerful  equipment  for  doing 
things,  while  the  former  take  more  interest  in  those  de- 
velopments which  illumine  and  clarify  the  elements  of  their 
subject.  Hence  the  prospective  teacher  and  the  prospective 
engineer  might  appear  to  have  conflicting  mathematical  in- 
terests.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  interests  are  not  con- 


166  College  Teaching 

flicting.  The  prospective  teacher  is  greatly  benefited  by  the 
emphasis  on  the  serviceableness  of  mathematics,  and  the 
prospective  engineer  finds  that  the  generality  and  clarity 
of  view  sought  by  the  prospective  teacher  is  equally  help- 
ful to  him  in  dealing  with  new  applications.  Hence  these 
two  classes  of  students  can  well  afford  to  pursue  many  of 
the  early  mathematical  courses  together,  while  the  finish- 
ing courses  should  usually  be  different. 

The  rapidly  growing  interest  in  statistical  methods  and 
in  insurance,  pensions,  and  investments  has  naturally  di- 
rected special  attention  to  the  underlying  mathematical 
theories,  especially  to  the  theory  of  probability.  Some 
institutions  have  organized  special  mathematical  courses  re- 
lating to  these  subjects  and  have  thus  extended  still  further 
the  range  of  undergraduate  subjects  covered  by  the  mathe- 
matical departments.  The  rapidly  growing  emphasis  on  a 
college  education  specially  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the 
prospective  business  man  has  recently  led  to  a  greater 
emphasis  on  some  of  these  subjects  in  several  institutions. 

The  range  of  mathematical  subjects  suited  for  graduate 
students  is  unlimited,  but  it  is  commonly  assumed  to  be 
desirable  that  the  graduate  student  should  pursue  at  least 
one  general  course  in  each  one  of  broader  subjects  such  as 
the  theory  of  numbers,  higher  algebra,  theory  of  functions, 
and  projective  geometry,  before  he  begins  to  specialize  along 
a  particular  line.  It  is  usually  taken  for  granted  that  the 
undergraduate  courses  in  mathematics  should  not  presup- 
pose a  knowledge  of  any  language  besides  English,  but 
graduate  work  in  this  subject  cannot  be  successfully  pursued 
in  many  cases  without  a  reading  knowledge  of  the  three 
other  great  mathematical  languages;  viz.,  French,  German, 
and  Italian.  Hence  the  study  of  graduate  mathematics 
necessarily  presupposes  some  linguistic  training  in  addition 
to  an  acquaintance  with  the  elements  of  fundamental  mathe- 
matical subjects. 

Historical  studies  make  especially  large  linguistic  de- 
mands in  case  these  studies  are  not  largely  restricted  to  pre- 
digested  material.     This  is  particularly  true  as  regards  the 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics         167 

older  historical  material.  In  the  study  of  contemporary 
mathematical  history  the  linguistic  prerequisites  are  about 
the  same  as  those  relating  to  the  study  of  other  modern 
mathematical  subjects.  With  the  rapid  spread  of  mathe- 
matical research  activity  during  recent  years  there  has  come 
a  growing  need  of  more  extensive  linguistic  attainments 
on  the  part  of  those  mathematicians  who  strive  to  keep  in 
touch  with  progress  along  various  lines.  For  instance,  a 
thriving  Spanish  national  mathematical  society  was  or- 
ganized in  1911  at  Madrid,  Spain,  and  in  March,  1916,  a 
new  mathematical  journal  entitled  Revista  de  Matematicas 
was  started  at  Buenos  Aires,  Argentine  Republic.  Hence  a 
knowledge  of  Spanish  is  becoming  more  useful  to  the  mathe- 
matical student.  Similar  activities  have  recently  been 
inaugurated  in  other  countries. 

Until  about  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  History  of 
courses  in  college  mathematics  did  not  usually  presuppose  ^°jj^^^  „ 
a  mathematical  foundation  carefully  prepared  for  a  super- 
structure. According  to  M.  Gebhardt,  the  function  of  teach- 
ing elementary  mathematics  in  Germany  was  assumed  by 
the  gymnasiums  during  the  years  from  1810  to  1830.^  Be- 
fore this  time  the  German  universities  usually  gave  in- 
struction in  the  most  elementary  mathematical  subjects. 
In  our  own  country,  Yale  University  instituted  a  mathe- 
matical entrance  requirement  under  the  title  of  arithmetic 
as  early  as  1745,  but  at  Harvard  University  no  mathe- 
matics was  required   for  admission  before   1803. 

On  the  other  hand,  UEcole  Poly  technique  of  Paris,  which 
occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  history  of  college  mathe- 
matics, had  very  high  admission  requirements  in  mathe- 
matics from  the  start.  According  to  a  law  enacted  in 
1795,  the  candidates  for  admission  were  required  to  pass 
an  examination  in  arithmetic;  in  algebra,  including  the 
solution  of  equations  of  the  first  four  degrees  and  the 
theory  of  series;  and  in  geometry,  including  trigonometry, 
the   applications   of   algebra   to   geometry,   and   conic   sec- 

1  Inlernalionale  Mathematische   Unterrichtskomission,  Vol.   3,   No.  6 
(1912),  page  2. 


168  College  Teaching 

tions.^  It  should  be  noted  that  these  requirements  are 
more  extensive  than  the  usual  present  mathematical  require- 
ments of  our  leading  universities  and  technical  schools,  but 
UEcole  Polytechnique  laid  special  emphasis  on  mathema- 
tics and  physics  and  became  the  world's  prototype  of  strong 
technical  institutions. 

The  influence  of  UEcole  Polytechnique  was  greatly  aug- 
mented by  the  publication  of  a  regular  periodical  entitled 
Journal  de  VEcole  Polytechnique,  which  was  started  in 
1795  and  is  still  being  published.  A  number  of  the 
courses  of  lectures  delivered  at  UEcole  Polytechnique  and 
at  UEcole  Normale  appeared  in  the  early  volumes  of  this 
journal.  The  fact  that  some  of  these  courses  were  given 
by  such  eminent  mathematicians  as  J.  L.  Lagrange,  G. 
Monge,  and  P.  S.  Laplace  is  sufficient  guarantee  of  their 
great  value  and  of  their  good  influence  on  the  later  text- 
books along  similar  lines.  In  particular,  it  may  be  noted 
that  G.  Monge  gave  the  first  course  in  descriptive  geom- 
etry at  UEcole  Normale  in  1795,  and  he  was  also  for  a 
number  of  years  one  of  the  most  influential  teachers  at 
UEcole  Polytechnique. 

A  most  fundamental  element  in  the  history  of  college 
mathematics  is  the  broadening  of  the  scope  of  the  college 
work.  As  long  as  college  students  were  composed  almost 
entirely  of  prospective  preachers,  lawyers,  and  physicians, 
there  was  comparatively  little  interest  taken  in  mathematics. 
It  is  true  that  the  mental  disciplinary  value  of  mathematics 
was  emphasized  by  many,  but  this  supposed  value  did 
not  put  any  real  life  into  mathematical  work.  The  dead 
abstract  reasonings  of  Euclid's  Elements,  or  even  the 
number  speculations  of  the  ancient  Pythagoreans,  were 
enough  to  satisfy  most  of  those  who  were  looking  to 
mathematics  as  a  subject  suitable  for  mental   gymnastics. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  colleges  began  to  train 
men  for  other  lines  of  work,  when  the  applications  of 
steam    led    to   big  enterprises,    like    the   building   of    rail- 

^  Journal  de  VEcole  Polytechnique,  Vol.  1  (18%),  part  4.  page  Ix. 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics         169 

roads  and  large  ocean  steamers,  mathematics  became  a 
living  subject  whose  great  direct  usefulness  in  practical 
affairs  began  to  be  commonly  recognized.  Moreover,  it 
became  apparent  that  there  was  great  need  of  mathematical 
growth,  since  mathematics  was  no  longer  to  be  used  merely 
as  mental  Indian  clubs  or  dumb-bells,  where  a  limited 
assortment  would  answer  all  practical  needs,  but  as  an 
implement  of  mental  penetration  into  the  infinitude  of 
barriers  which  have  checked  progress  along  various  lines 
and  seem  to  require  an  infinite  variety  of  methods  of  pene- 
tration. 

The  American  colleges  were  naturally  somewhat  slower 
than  some  of  those  of  Europe  in  adapting  themselves  to  the 
changed  conditions,  but  the  rapidity  of  the  changes  in  our 
country  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  the  first  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century  Harvard  placed  in  comparatively 
short  succession  three  mathematical  subjects  on  its  list 
of  entrance  requirements;  viz.,  arithmetic  in  1802,  algebra 
in  1820,  and  geometry  In  1844.  Although  Harvard  had 
not  established  any  mathematical  admission  requirements 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  after  its  opening,  she 
initiated  three  such  requirements  within  half  a  century. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  for  at  least  ninety  years 
from  the  opening  of  Harvard,  arithmetic  was  taught  dur- 
ing the  senior  year  as  one  of  the  finishing  subjects  of 
a  college  education.' 

The  passage  of  some  of  the  subjects  of  elementary  mathe- 
matics from  the  colleges  to  the  secondary  schools  raised 
two  very  fundamental  questions.  The  first  of  these  con- 
cerned mostly  the  secondary  schools,  since  it  involved  an 
adaptation  to  the  needs  of  younger  students  of  the  more 
or  less  crystallized  textbook  material  which  came  to  them 
from  the  colleges.  The  second  of  these  questions  affected 
the  colleges  only,  since  it  involved  the  selection  of  proper 
material  to  base  upon  the  foundations  laid  by  the  secondary 
schools.     It   is  natural   that   the   influence   of  the  colleges 

^  F.   Cajori,    Teaching   and   History   of   Mathematics   in   the    United 
States,  1890,  page  22. 


170 


College  Teaching 


college 


should  have  been  somewhat  harmful  with  respect  to  the 
secondary  schools,  since  the  interests  of  the  former  seemed 
to  be  best  met  by  restricting  most  of  the  energies  of  the 
secondary  teachers  of  mathematics  to  the  thorough  drilling 
of  their  students  in  dexterous  formal  manipulations  of 
algebraic  symbols  and  the  demonstration  of  fundamental 
abstract  theorems  of  geometry. 
Eeiation  of         Students  who  come  to   college  with  a  solid  and   broad 

mathematics  _  _  ^ 

in  secondary  foundation  but  without  any  knowledge  of  the  superstruc- 
sc  00  s  an  ^^^^  ^^^  readily  be  inspired  and  enthused  by  the  erection 
of  a  beautiful  superstructure  on  a  foundation  laid  mostly 
underground,  with  little  direct  evidence  of  its  value  or  im- 
portance. The  injustice  and  shortsightedness  of  the  ten- 
dency to  restrict  the  secondary  schools  to  such  foundation 
work  would  not  have  been  so  apparent  if  the  majority 
of  the  secondary  school  students  would  have  entered  col- 
lege. As  a  matter  of  fact  it  tended  to  bring  secondary 
mathematics  into  disrepute  and  thus  to  threaten  college 
mathematics  at  its  very  foundation.  It  is  only  in  recent 
years  that  strong  efforts  have  been  made  to  correct  this 
very  serious  mathematical  situation. 

Much  progress  has  been  made  toward  the  saner  view  of 
letting  secondary  mathematics  build  its  little  structure  into 
the  air  with  some  view  to  harmony  and  proportion,  and  of 
requiring  college  mathematics  to  build  on  as  well  as  upon 
the  work  done  by  the  secondary  schools.  The  fruitful  and 
vivifying  notions  of  function,  derivative,  and  group  are 
slowly  making  their  way  into  secondary  mathematics,  and 
the  graphic  methods  have  introduced  some  of  the  charms  of 
analytic  geometry  into  the  same  field. 

This  transformation  is  naturally  affecting  college  mathe 
matics  most  profoundly.  The  tedious  work  of  building 
foundations  in  college  mathematics  is  becoming  more  im- 
perative. The  use  of  the  rock  drill  is  forcing  itself  more 
and  more  on  the  college  teacher  accustomed  to  use  only 
hammer  and  saw.  As  we  are  just  entering  upon  this  situ- 
ation, it  is  too  early  to  prophesy  anything  in  regard  to 
its   permanency,    but   it    seems    likely   that   the   secondary 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics  171 

teachers  will  no  more  assume  a  yoke  which  some  of  the 
college  teachers  would  so  gladly  have  them  bear  and  which 
they  bore  a  long  time  with  a  view  to  serving  the  interests 
of  the  latter  teachers. 

As  many  of  the  textbooks  used  by  secondary  teachers 
are  written  by  college  men,  and  as  the  success  of  these 
teachers  is  often  gauged  by  the  success  of  their  students 
who  happen  to  go  to  college,  it  is  easily  seen  that  there 
is  a  serious  temptation  on  the  part  of  the  secondary  teacher 
to  look  at  his  work  through  the  eyes  of  the  college  teacher. 
The  recent  organizations  which  bring  together  the  college 
and  the  secondary  teachers  have  already  exerted  a  very 
wholesome  influence  and  have  tended  to  exhibit  the  fact 
that  the  success  of  the  college  teacher  of  mathematics  is 
very  intimately  connected  with  that  of  the  teachers  of  second- 
ary mathematics. 

While  it  is  difficult  to  determine  the  most  important 
single  event  in  the  history  of  college  teaching  in  America, 
there  are  few  events  in  this  history  which  seem  to  deserve 
such  a  distinction  more  than  the  organization  of  the  Mathe- 
matical Association  of  America  which  was  effected  in  De- 
cember, 1915.  This  association  aims  especially  to  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  mathematics  in  the  collegiate  field 
and  it  publishes  a  journal  entitled  The  American  Mathe- 
matical Monthly,  containing  many  expository  articles  of 
special  interest  to  teachers.  It  also  holds  regular  meet- 
ings and  has  organized  various  sections  so  as  to  enable 
its  members  to  attend  meetings  without  incurring  the  ex- 
pense of  long  trips.  Its  first  four  presidents  were  E.  R. 
Hedrick,  Florian  Cajori,  E.  V.  Huntington,  and  H.  E. 
Slaught. 

An  event  which  has  perhaps  affected  the  very  vitals 
of  mathematical  teaching  in  America  still  more  is  the 
founding  of  the  American  Mathematical  Society  in  1888, 
called  the  New  York  Mathematical  Society  until  1894. 
Through  its  Bulletin  and  Transactions,  as  well  as  through 
its  meetings  and  coUoquia  lectures,  this  society  has  stood 
for    inspiration    and    deep    mathematical    interest   without 


172 


College  Teaching 


Alms  of 
college 
mathe- 
matics : 
methods  of 
teaching 


which  college  teaching  will  degenerate  into  an  art.  Dur- 
ing the  first  thirty  years  of  its  history  it  has  had  as  presi- 
dents the  following:  J.  H.  Van  Amringe,  Emory  McClin- 
tock,  G.  W.  Hill,  Simon  Newcomb,  R.  S.  Woodward,  E.  H. 
Moore,  T.  S.  Fiske,  W.  F.  Osgood,  H.  S.  White,  Maxime 
Bocher,  H.  B.  Fine,  E.  B.  Van  Vleck,  E.  W.  Brown,  L.  E. 
Dickson,  and  Frank  Morley. 

The  aims  of  college  mathematics  can  perhaps  be  most 
clearly  understood  by  recalling  the  fact  that  mathematics 
constitutes  a  kind  of  intellectual  shorthand  and  that  many 
of  the  newer  developments  in  a  large  number  of  the  sciences 
tend  toward  pure  mathematics.  In  particular,  "  there  is  a 
constant  tendency  for  mathematical  physics  to  be  absorbed 
in  pure  mathematics.^  As  sciences  grow,  they  tend  to  re- 
quire more  and  more  the  strong  methods  of  intellectual 
penetration  provided  by  pure  mathematics. 

The  principal  modem  aim  of  college  mathematics  is 
not  the  training  of  the  mind,  but  the  providing  of  infor- 
mation which  is  absolutely  necessary  to  those  who  seek  to 
work  most  efficiently  along  various  scientific  lines.  Mathe- 
matical knowledge  rather  than  mathematical  discipline  is 
the  main  modern  objective  in  the  college  courses  in  mathe- 
matics. As  this  knowledge  must  be  in  a  usable  form,  its 
acquisition  is  naturally  attended  by  mental  discipline,  but 
the  knowledge  is  absolutely  needed  and  would  have  to  be 
acquired  even  if  the  process  of  acquisition  were  not  at- 
tended  by   a   development   of   intellectual    power. 

The  fact  that  practically  all  of  the  college  mathematics 
of  the  eighteenth  century  has  been  gradually  taken  over 
by  the  secondary  schools  of  today  might  lead  some  to 
question  the  wisdom  of  replacing  this  earlier  mathematics 
by  more  advanced  subjects.  In  particular,  the  question 
might  arise  whether  the  college  mathematics  of  today  is  not 
superfluous.  This  question  has  been  partially  answered  by 
the  preceding  general  observations.  The  rapid  scientific 
advances  of   the  past   century  have   increased   the  mathe- 

1  A.  E.  H.  Love,  Proceedings  of  the  London  Mathematical  Society, 
Vol.  14  (1915),  page  183. 


Tlie  Teaching  of  Mathematics         173 


matical  needs  very  rapidly.  The  advances  in  college  mathe- 
matics which  have  been  made  possible  by  the  improvements 
of  the  secondary  schools  have  scarcely  kept  up  with  the 
growth  of  these  needs,  so  that  the  current  mathematical 
needs  cannot  be  as  fully  provided  for  by  the  modern  col- 
lege as  the  recognized  mathematical  needs  of  the  eighteenth 
century  were  provided  for  by  the  colleges  of  those  days. 

There  appears  to  be  no  upper  limit  to  the  amount  of 
useful  mathematics,  and  hence  the  aim  of  the  college 
must  be  to  supply  the  mathematical  needs  of  the  students 
to  the  greatest  possible  extent  under  the  circumstances. 
In  order  to  supply  these  needs  in  the  most  economical  man- 
ner, it  seems  necessary  that  some  of  them  should  be  sup- 
plied before  they  are  fully  appreciated  on  the  part  of  the 
student.  The  first  steps  in  many  scientific  subjects  do  not 
call  for  mathematical  considerations  and  the  student  fre- 
quently does  not  go  beyond  these  first  steps  in  his  college 
days,  but  he  needs  to  go  much  further  later  in  life.  Col- 
lege mathematics  should  prepare  for  life  rather  than  for 
college  days  only,  and  hence  arises  the  desirability  of  deeper 
mathematical  penetration  than  appears  directly  necessary 
for  college  work. 

Another  reason  for  more  advanced  mathematics  than 
seems  to  be  directly  needed  by  the  student  is  that  the  more 
advanced  subjects  in  mathematics  are  a  kind  of  applied 
mathematics  relative  to  the  more  elementary  ones,  and  the 
former  subjects  serve  to  throw  much  light  on  the  latter. 
In  other  words,  the  student  who  desires  to  understand  an 
elementary  subject  completely  should  study  more  advanced 
subjects  which  are  connected  therewith,  since  such  a  study 
is  usually  more  effective  than  the  repeated  review  of  the 
elementary  subject.  In  particular,  many  students  secure 
a  better  understanding  of  algebra  during  their  course  in 
calculus  than  during  the  course  in  algebra  itself,  and  a 
course  in  differential  equations  will  throw  new  light  on 
the  course  in  calculus.  Hence  college  mathematics  usually 
aims  to  cover  a  rather  wide  range  of  subjects  in  a  com- 
paratively short  time. 


Advanced 
work  In 
college 
mathematics 


174 


College  Teaching 


Mathematics 
and 

technical 
education 


Since  mathematics  is  largely  the  language  of  advanced 
science,  especially  of  astronomy,  physics,  and  engineering, 
one  of  the  prominent  aims  of  college  mathematics  should 
be  to  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  other  sciences.  That 
is,  the  idea  of  rendering  direct  and  efficient  services  to  other 
departments  should  animate  the  mathematical  department 
more  deeply  than  any  other  department  of  the  university. 
The  tendency  toward  disintegration  to  which  we  referred 
above  has  forcefully  directed  attention  to  the  great  need 
of  emphasizing  this  aspect  of  our  subject,  since  such  dis- 
integration is  naturally  accompanied  by  a  weakening  of 
mathematical  vigor.  It  may  be  noted  that  such  a  dis- 
integration would  mean  a  reverting  to  primitive  conditions, 
since  some  of  the  older  works  treated  mathematics  merely 
as  a  chapter  of  astronomy.  This  was  done,  for  instance, 
in  some  of  the  ancient  treatises  of  the  Hindus. 

The  great  increase  in  college  students  during  recent 
years  and  the  growing  emphasis  on  college  activities  out- 
side of  the  work  connected  with  the  classroom,  especially  on 
those  relating  to"  college  athletics,  would  doubtless  have 
left  college  mathematics  in  a  woefully  neglected  state  if 
there  had  not  been  a  rapidly  growing  interest  in  technical 
education,  especially  in  engineering  subjects,  at  the  same 
time.  Naval  engineering  was  one  of  the  first  scientific 
subjects  to  exert  a  strong  influence  on  popularizing  mathe- 
matics. In  particular,  the  teaching  of  mathematics  in  the 
Russian  schools  supported  by  the  government  began  with 
the  founding  of  the  government  school  for  mathematics 
and  navigation  at  Moscow  in  1701.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  earlier  Russian  schools  established  by  the 
clergy  after  the  adoption  of  Christianity  in  that  country 
did  not  provide  for  the  teaching  of  any  arithmetic  what- 
ever, notwithstanding  the  usefulness  of  arithmetic  for  the 
computing  of  various  dates  in  the  church  calendar,  for 
land  surveying,  and  for  the  ordinary  business  transactions.^ 

The  direct  aims  in  the  teaching  of  college  mathematics 

^  V.  V.  Bobynin,  UEnseignement  Mathematique,  Vol.  1   (1899),  page 
78. 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics  175 

have  naturally  been  somewhat  affected  by  the  needs  of  the 
engineering  students,  who  constitute  in  many  of  our  lead- 
ing institutions  a  large  majority  in  the  mathematical  classes. 
These  students  are  usually  expected  to  receive  more  drill 
in  actual  numerical  work  than  is  demanded  by  those  who 
seek  mainly  a  deeper  penetration  into  the  various  mathe 
matical  theories.  The  most  successful  methods  of  teach- 
ing the  former  students  have  much  in  common  with  those 
usually  employed  in  the  high  schools  and  are  known  as 
the  recitation  and  problem-solving  methods.  They  involve 
the  correction  and  direct  supervision  of  a  large  number  of 
graded  exercises  worked  out  by  the  students  on  the  black- 
board or  on  paper,  and  aim  to  overcome  the  peculiar  diflS- 
culties  of  the  individual   students. 

The  lecture  method,  on  the  other  hand,  aims  to  exhibit 
the  main  facts  in  a  clear  light  and  to  leave  to  the  student 
the  task  of  supplying  further  illustrative  examples  and  of 
reconsidering  the  various  steps.  The  purely  lecture  method 
does  not  seem  to  be  well  adapted  to  American  conditions, 
and  it  is  frequently  combined  with  what  is  commonly 
known  as  the  "quiz."  The  quiz  seems  to  be  an  American 
institution,  although  it  has  much  in  common  with  a  species 
of  the  French  "  conference."  It  is  intended  to  review 
the  content  of  a  set  of  lectures  by  means  of  discussions 
in  which  the  students  and  the  teacher  participate,  and  it  is 
most  commonly  employed  in  connection  with  the  courses 
of  an  advanced  undergraduate  or  of  a  beginning  graduate 
grade. 

A  prominent  aim  in  graduate  courses  is  to  lead  the 
student  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  the  boundary  of  knowl- 
edge along  the  particular  line  considered  therein.  ^^Tiile 
some  of  the  developments  in  such  courses  are  apt  to  be 
somewhat  special  or  to  be  too  general  to  have  much  mean- 
ing, their  novelty  frequently  adds  a  sufficiently  strong 
element  of  interest  to  more  than  compensate  losses  in  other 
directions.  Moreover,  the  student  who  aims  to  do  research 
work  will  thus  be  enabled  to  consider  various  fields  as  re- 
gards their  attractiveness  for  prolonged  investigations  of 
his  own. 


176 


College  Teaching 


Preparation 

of  the 
college 
teacher  of 
mathematics 


The  fact  that  the  college  teacher  has  need  of  much  more 
mathematical  knowledge  than  he  can  possibly  secure  dur- 
ing the  period  of  his  preparation,  especially  if  he  expects 
to  take  an  active  part  in  research  and  in  directing  graduate 
work,  has  usually  led  to  the  assumption  that  the  future 
teacher  of  college  mathematics  should  devote  all  his  ener- 
gies to  securing  a  deep  mathematical  insight  and  a  wide 
range  of  mathematical  knowledge.^  On  the  other  hand, 
students  prepared  in  accord  with  this  assumption  have  fre- 
quently found  it  very  difficult  to  adapt  themselves  to  the 
needs  of  large  freshman  classes  of  engineering  students 
entering  upon  the  duties  for  which  they  were  supposed  to 
have  been  prepared. 

The  breadth  of  view  and  the  sweep  of  abstraction  needed 
for  effective  graduate  work  have  little  in  common  with 
accuracy  in  numerical  work  and  emphasis  on  details  which 
are  so  essential  to  the  young  engineering  students.  The 
difficulty  of  the  situation  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  the 
young  instructor  is  often  led  to  believe  that  his  advance- 
ment and  the  appreciation  of  his  services  are  directly  pro- 
portional to  his'  achievements  in  investigations  of  a  high 
order.  This  belief  naturally  leads  many  to  begrudge  the 
time  and  thought  which  their  teaching  duties  should  nor- 
mally receive. 

The  young  college  teacher  of  mathematics  is  thus  con- 
fronted with  a  much  more  complex  situation  than  that 
which  confronts  the  mathematics  teachers  in  secondary 
school  work.  Here  the  success  in  the  classroom  is  the  one 
great  goal,  and  the  mathematical  knowledge  required  is 
comparatively  very  modest.  Possibly  the  situation  of  the 
college  teacher  could  be  materially  improved  if  it  were 
understood  that  his  first  promotion  would  be  mainly  de- 
pendent upon  his  success  as  a  teacher,  but  that  later  pro- 
motions involved  the  element  of  productive  scholarship  in 
an  increasing  ratio. 

The  schools   of  education   which   have   in   recent   years 

^  The  Training  of  Teachers  of  Mathematics,  1917,  by  R.  C.  Archibald. 
Bulletin  No.  27,  1917,  United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics         177 

been  established  in  most  of  our  leading  universities  have 
thus  far  had  only  a  slight  influence  on  the  preparation  of 
the  college  teachers,  but  it  seems  likely  that  this  influence 
will  increase  as  the  needs  of  professional  training  become 
better  known.  It  is  probably  true  that  the  ratio  of  courses 
on  methods  to  courses  on  knowledge  of  the  subject  will 
always  be  largest  for  the  elementary  teacher,  in  view  of  the 
great  difference  between  the  mental  maturity  of  the  student 
and  the  teacher,  somewhat  less  for  the  secondary  teacher 
and  least  for  the  college  teacher;  but  this  least  should  not 
be  zero,  as  is  so  frequently  the  case  at  present,  since  there 
usually  is  even  here  a  considerable  difi^erence  between  the 
mathematical  maturity  of  the  student  and  that  of  the  teacher. 

It  may  be  argued  that  the  future  college  teacher  will 
probably  profit  more  by  noting  the  methods  employed 
by  his  instructors  than  he  would  by  the  theoretic  discus- 
sions relating  to  methods.  This  is  doubtless  true,  but  it 
does  not  prove  that  the  latter  discussions  are  without  value. 
On  the  other  hand,  these  discussions  will  often  serve  to 
fix  more  attention  on  the  former  methods  and  will  lead 
the  student  to  note  more  accurately  their  import  and  prob- 
able adaptability  to  the  needs  of  the  younger  students. 

Among  the  useful  features  for  the  training  of  the  future 
mathematics  teachers  are  the  mathematical  clubs  which  are 
connected  with  most  of  the  active  mathematical  depart- 
ments. In  many  cases,  at  least,  two  such  clubs  are  main- 
tained, the  one  being  devoted  largely  to  the  presentation 
of  research  work  while  the  other  aims  to  provide  oppor- 
tunities for  the  presentation  of  papers  of  special  interest 
to  the  students.  The  latter  papers  are  often  presented  by 
graduate  students  or  by  advanced  undergraduates,  and  they 
offer  a  splendid  opportunity  for  such  students  to  acquire 
effective  and  clear  methods  of  presentation.  The  same  de- 
sirable end  is  often  promoted  by  reports  given  by  students 
in  seminars  or  in  advanced  courses. 

Prominent  factors  in  the  training  of  the  future  college 
teachers  are  the  teaching  scholarships  or  fellowships  and 
the   assistantships.     Many  of   the   larger   universities  pro- 


178  College  Teaching 

vide  a  number  of  positions  of  this  type.  It  sometimes 
happens  that  the  teaching  duties  connected  with  these  posi- 
tions are  so  heavy  as  to  leave  too  little  energy  for  vigorous 
graduate  work.  On  the  other  hand,  these  positions  have 
made  it  possible  for  many  to  continue  their  graduate  studies 
longer  than  they  could  otherwise  have  done  and  at  the 
same  time  to  acquire  sound  habits  of  teaching  while  in 
close  contact  with  men  of  proved  ability  along  this  line. 

It  should  be  emphasized  that  the  ideal  college  teacher  of 
mathematics  is  not  the  one  who  acquires  a  respectable  fund 
of  mathematical  knowledge  which  he  passes  along  to  his 
students,  but  the  one  imbued  with  an  abiding  interest  in 
learning  more  and  more  about  his  subject  as  long  as 
life  lasts.  This  interest  naturally  soon  forces  him  to  con- 
duct researches  where  progress  usually  is  slow  and  uncer- 
tain. Research  work  should  be  animated  by  the  desire 
for  more  knowledge  and  not  by  the  desire  for  publication. 
In  fact,  only  those  new  results  should  be  published  which 
are  likely  to  be  helpful  to  others  in  starting  at  a  more 
favorable  point  in  their  efforts  to  secure  intellectual  mas- 
tery over  certain  important  problems. 

Half  a  century  ago  it  was  commonly  assumed  that  gradu- 
ation from  a  good  college  implied  enough  training  to 
enter  upon  the  duties  of  a  college  teacher,  but  this  view 
has  been  practically  abandoned,  at  least  as  regards  the 
college  teacher  of  mathematics.  The  normal  preparation 
is  now  commonly  placed  three  years  later,  and  the  Ph.D. 
degree  is  usually  regarded  to  be  evidence  of  this  normal 
preparation.  This  degree  is  supposed  by  many  to  imply 
that  its  possessor  has  reached  a  stage  where  he  can  do 
independent  research  work  and  direct  students  who  seek 
similar  degrees.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  in  America  as 
well  as  in  Germany  the  student  often  receives  much  direct 
assistance  while  working  on  his  Ph.D.  thesis,  this  suppo- 
sition is  frequently  not  in  accord  with  the  facts.^ 

The  emphasis  on  the  Ph.D.  degree  for  college  teachers 
has  in  many  cases  led  to  an  improvement  in  ideals,  but 
1  Cf.  M.  Bocher,  Science,  Vol.  38  (1913),  page  546. 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics  179 

in  some  other  cases  it  has  had  the  opposite  effect.  Too 
many  possessors  of  this  degree  have  been  able  to  count 
on  it  as  accepted  evidence  of  scientific  attainments,  while 
they  allowed  themselves  to  become  absorbed  in  non-scien- 
tific matters,  especially  in  administrative  details.  Pro- 
fessors of  mathematics  in  our  colleges  have  been  called 
on  to  shoulder  an  unusual  amount  of  the  administrative 
work,  and  many  men  of  fine  ability  and  scholarship  have 
thus  been  hindered  from  entering  actively  into  research 
work.  Conditions  have,  however,  improved  rapidly  in  re- 
cent years,  and  it  is  becoming  better  known  that  the  produc- 
tive college  teacher  needs  all  his  energies  for  scientific 
work;  and  in  no  field  is  this  more  emphatically  true  than  in 
mathematics.  Some  departmental  administrative  duties  will 
doubtless  always  devolve  upon  the  mathematics  teachers. 
By  a  careful  division  of  these  duties  they  need  not  inter- 
fere seriously  with  the  main  work  of  the  various  teachers. 

The  American  teachers  of  mathematics  follow  the  textbook   "^^^  mathe- 

1        ,        ,  .  .       /->  t        •      .^  maflcal  text- 

more  closely  than  is  customary  m  Germany,  tor  mstance.    book 

Among  college  teachers  there  is  a  wide  difference  of  view 
in  regard  to  the  suitable  use  of  the  textbook.  While  some 
use  it  simply  for  the  purpose  of  providing  illustrative  ex- 
amples and  do  not  expect  the  student  to  begin  any  sub- 
ject by  a  study  of  the  presentation  found  in  the  textbook, 
there  are  others  who  expect  the  normal  student  to  secure 
all  the  needed  assistance  from  the  textbook  and  who  em- 
ploy the  class  periods  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  teach- 
ing the  students  how  to  use  the  textbook  most  effectively. 
The  practice  of  most  teachers  falls  between  these  two  ex- 
tremes, and,  as  a  rule,  the  textbook  is  followed  less  and  less 
closely  as  the  student  advances  in  his  work.  In  fact,  in 
many  advanced  courses  no  particular  textbook  is  followed. 
In  such  courses  the  principal  results  and  the  exercises  are 
often  dictated  by  the  teacher  or  furnished  by  means  of 
mimeographed  notes. 

The  close  adherence  to. the  textbook  is  apt  to  cultivate 
the  habit  on  the  part  of  the  student  of  trying  to  under- 
stand what  the  author  meant  instead  of  confining  his  atten- 


180  College  Teaching 

tion  to  trying,  to  understand  the  subject.  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  American  secondary  mathematics  teachers  usu- 
ally follow  textbooks  so  slavishly,  the  college  teacher  of 
mathematics  who  believes  in  emphasizing  the  subject  rather 
than  the  textbook  often  meets  with  considerable  difficulty 
with  the  beginning  classes.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  clear 
that  as  the  student  advances  he  should  be  encouraged  to 
seek  information  from  all  available  sources  instead  of  from 
one  particular  book  only.  The  rapid  improvement  in  our 
library  facilities  makes  this  attitude  especially  desirable. 

An  advantage  of  the  textbook  is  that  it  is  limited  in 
all  directions,  while  the  subject  itself  is  of  indefinite  extent. 
In  the  textbook  the  subject  has  been  pressed  into  a  linear 
sequence,  while  its  natural  form  usually  exhibits  various  di- 
mensions. The  textbook  presents  those  phases  about  which 
there  is  usually  no  doubt,  while  the  subject  itself  exhibits 
limitations  of  knowledge  in  many  directions.  From  these 
few  characteristics  it  is  evident  that  the  study  of  textbooks 
is  apt  to  cultivate  a  different  attitude  and  a  different  point 
of  view  from  those  cultivated  by  the  unhampered  study 
of  subjects.  The  latter  are,  however,  the  ones  which  corre- 
spond to  the  actual  world  and  which  therefore  should  re- 
ceive more  and  more  emphasis  as  the  mental  vision  of  the 
student  can  be  enlarged. 

The  number  of  different  available  college  mathematical 
textbooks  on  the  subjects  usually  studied  by  the  large  classes 
of  engineering  students  has  increased  rapidly  in  recent 
years.  On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  suitable  text- 
books for  the  more  advanced  classes  is  often  very  limited. 
In  fact,  it  is  often  found  desirable  to  use  textbooks  written 
in  some  foreign  language,  especially  in  French,  German, 
or  Italian,  for  such  courses.  This  procedure  has  the  ad- 
vantage that  it  helps  to  cultivate  a  better  reading  knowl- 
edge of  these  languages,  which  is  in  itself  a  very  worthy 
end  for  the  advanced  student  of  mathematics.  This  pro- 
cedure has,  however,  become  less  necessary  in  recent  years 
in  view  of  the  publication  of  various  excellent  advanced 
works  in  the  English  language. 


The  Teaching  of  Mathematics         181 

The  greatest  mathematical  treasure  is  constituted  by  the 
periodic  literatures,  and  the  larger  colleges  and  universi- 
ties aim  to  have  complete  sets  of  the  leading  mathematical 
periodicals  available  for  their  students.  This  literature  has 
been  made  more  accessible  by  the  publication  of  various 
catalogues,  such  as  the  Subject  Index,  Volume  I,  published 
by  the  Royal  Society  of  London  in  1908,  and  the  volumes 
"  A  "  of  the  annual  publications  entitled  International  Cata- 
logue of  Scientific  Literature.  All  students  who  have  access 
to  large  libraries  should  learn  how  to  utilize  this  great 
store  of  mathematical  lore  whenever  mathematical  ques- 
tions present  themselves  to  them  in  their  scientific  work. 
This  is  especially  true  as  regards  those  who  specialize  along 
mathematical    lines. 

In  some  of  the  colleges  and  universities  general  infor- 
mational courses  along  mathematical  lines  have  been  organ- 
ized under  different  names,  such  as  history  of  mathematics, 
synoptic  course,  fundamental  concepts,  cultural  course,  etc. 
Several  books  have  recently  been  prepared  with  a  view 
to  meeting  the  needs  of  textbooks  for  such  courses.  College 
teachers  of  mathematics  usually  find  it  difficult  to  interest 
their  students  sufficiently  in  the  current  periodic  literature, 
and  one  of  the  greatest  problems  of  the  college  teacher  is 
to  instill  such  a  broad  interest  in  mathematics  that  the 
student  will  seek  mathematical  knowledge  in  all  available 
sources  instead  of  confining  himself  to  the  study  of  a  few 
textbooks  or  the  work  of  a  particular  school. 

G.  A.  Miller 

University  of  Illinois 


182  College  Teaching 


References 

For  articles  on  the  teaching  of  mathematics  which  appeared  during 
the  nineteenth  century,  consult  0050  Pedagogy  in  the  Royal  Society 
Index,  Vol.  1,  Pure  Mathematics,  1908.  For  literature  appearing 
during  the  first  twelve  years  of  the  present  century  the  reader  may 
consult  the  Bibliography  of  the  Teaching  of  Mathematics,  1900-1912, 
by  D.  E.  Smith  and  Charles  Goldziher,  published  by  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin,  1912,  No.  29.  More  recent  literature 
may  be  found  by  consulting  annual  indexes,  such  as  the  International 
Catalogue  of  Scientific  Literature,  A,  Mathematics,  under  0050,  and 
Revue  Semestrielle  des  Publications  Mathematiques,  under  V  1.  The 
volumes  of  the  international  review  entitled  U Enseignement  Mathema- 
tique,  founded  in  1899,  contain  a  large  number  of  articles  relating  to 
college  teaching.  This  subject  will  be  treated  in  the  closing  volumes 
of  the  large  French  and  German  mathematical  encyclopedias  in  course 
of  publication. 


IX 


PHYSICAL  EDUCATION  IN  THE  COLLEGE 


THE  events  of  the  four  years  between  the  summer  of 
1914  and  the  winter  of  1918  have  brought  us  to  a 
full  realization  of  the  real  significance  of  physical  edu- 
cation in  the  training  of  youth.  America  and  her  allies 
have  had  very  dramatic  reasons  for  regretting  their  care- 
less indifference  to  the  welfare  of  childhood  and  youth  in 
former  years.  Only  yesterday,  we  were  told  that  the  great 
war  would  be  won  by  the  country  that  could  furnish  the 
last  man  or  fight  for  the  last  quarter  of  an  hour.  America 
and  her  allies  looked  with  a  new  and  fearful  concern  upon 
the  army  of  young  men  who  were  found  physically  unfit 
for  military  service. 

With  the  danger  of  war  past,  there  is  no  lack  of  evidence 
that  we  and  our  allies  will  make  practical  application  of 
this  particular  lesson.  It  will  be  fortunate  indeed  if  the 
enlightened  people  of  the  earth  are  really  permanently 
awake  to  the  importance  of  the  physical  education  of  their 
citizens-in-the-making. 

Governmental  agencies  have  already  started  the  move- 
ment to  guarantee  to  the  coming  generation  more  exten- 
sive and  more  scientific  physical  education.  Public  and 
private  institutions  are  joining  forces  so  that  the  advantages 
of  this  extended  program  of  physical  education  will  be  en- 
joyed by  the  young  men  and  young  wom6n  in  industry  and 
commerce  as  well  as  by  those  in  schools  and  colleges. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  American  college  will  do  its 
full  share  and  neglect  no  reasonable  measure  whereby  the 
college  graduate  may  be  developed  into  the  vigorous  and 
healthy  human  being  that  the  mentally  trained  ought  to 
be.  It  must  be  admitted  that  our  findings  by  the  military 
draft  boards,  as  well  as  other  evidences  secured  through 
physical  examinations,  are  not  such  as  to  make  the  American 
college  proud  of  the  quality  or  the  extent  of  physical  edu- 

183 


Iiessons  for 
physical 
education 
from  the 
world  war 


184 


College  Teaching 


Aims  of 
physical 
education 


Formula- 
tions of 
aims  and 
scope  of 
physical 
education 
in  official 
documents 
—  By  Re- 
gents of  the 
State  of 
New  York 


By  national 
committee 
on  physical 
education 


cation  which  it  has  given  in  the  past.  We  must  express 
our  keen  disappointment  at  the  prevalence  of  under-develop- 
ment,  remediable  defects,  and  unachieved  physical  and 
functional  possibilities  in  our  college  graduates. 

Physical  training  is  concerned  with  the  achievement  and 
the  conservation  of  human  health.  It  has  to  do  with  con- 
ditioning the  human  being  for  the  exigencies  of  life  in 
peace  or  in  war.  Its  standards  are  not  set  by  a  degree 
of  health  which  merely  enables  the  individual  to  keep  out 
of  bed,  eat  three  meals  a  day,  and  run  no  abnormal  tem- 
perature. Physical  training  is  concerned  with  developing 
vigorous,  enduring  health  that  is  based  upon  the  perfect 
function,  coordination,  and  integration  of  every  organ  of 
the  human  body;  health  that  is  not  found  wanting  at  the 
military  draft;  health  that  meets  all  its  community  obliga- 
tions; health  that  is  not  affected  by  diseases  of  decay;  and 
health  that  resists  infection  and  postpones  preventable 
death. 

Official  statements  and  information  from  reliable  sources 
indicate  that  physical  education  and  hygiene  and  physical 
training  are  regarded  by  authorities  as  covering  about  the 
same  general  field.  The  general  plan  and  syllabus  for 
physical  training  adopted  by  the  Regents  of  the  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1916  interprets  physical  train- 
ing as  covering  "  (1)  Individual  health  examinations  and 
personal  health  instruction  (medical  inspection) ;  (2)  in- 
struction concerning  the  care  of  the  body  and  the  important 
facts  of  hygiene  (recitations  in  hygiene) ;  (3)  physical  ex- 
aminations as  a  health  habit,  including  gymnastics,  ele- 
mentary marching,  and  organized,  supervised  play,  recrea- 
tion, and  athletics." 

In  March  of  1918  a  National  Committee  on  Physical  Edu- 
cation, formed  of  representatives  from  twenty  or  more 
national  organizations,  adopted  the  following  resolutions: 

I.  That  a  comprehensive,  thoroughgoing  program  of  health  educa- 
tion and  physical  education  is  absolutely  needed  for  all  boys 
and  girls  of  elementary  and  secondary  school  age,  both  rural 
and  urban,  in  every  state  in  the  Union. 


Physical  Education  185 

II.  That  legislation,  similar  in  purpose  and  scope  to  the  provi- 
sions and  requirements  in  the  laws  recently  enacted  in  Cali- 
fornia, New  York  State,  and  New  Jersey,  is  desirable  in  every 
state,  to  provide  authorization  and  support  for  state-wide  pro- 
grams in  the  health  and  physical  education  field. 

III.  That  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  should  be  empow- 
ered by  law,  and  provided  with  sufficient  appropriations,  to 
exert  adequate  influence  and  supervision  in  relation  to  a  nation- 
wide program  of  instruction  in  health  and  physical  education. 

IV.  That  it  seems  most  desirable  that  Congress  should  give  recog- 
nition to  this  vital  and  neglected  phase  of  education,  with  a 
bill  and  appropriation  similar  in  purpose  and  scope  to  the 
Smith-Hughes  Law,  to  give  sanction,  leadership,  and  support 
to  a  national  program  of  health  and  physical  education;  and  to 
encourage,  standardize,  and,  in  part,  finance  the  practical  program 
of  constructive  work  that  should  be  undertaken  in  every  state. 

V.  That  federal  recognition,  supervision,  and  support  are  urgently 
needed,  as  the  effective  means,  under  the  Constitution,  to  secure 
that  universal  training  ot  boys  and  girls  in  health  and  physical 
fitness  which  are  equally  essential  to  efficiency  of  all  citizens 
both  in  peace  and  in  war. 

In  December,  1918,  five  national  organizations,  assem-  By  five  na- 
bled  in  regular  annual  meeting,  adopted  resolutions  which  ganizations 
read  in  part  as  follows: 

First:  That  this  Society  shall  make  every  reasonable  effort  to 
influence  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  and  the  legislatures 
of  our  various  states  to  enact  laws  providing  for  the  effective 
physical  education  of  all  children  of  all  ages  in  our  elementary  and 
secondary  schools,  public,  institutional  and  private,  a  physical 
education  that  will  bring  these  children  instruction  in  hygiene, 
regular  periodic  health  examinations  and  a  training  in  the  practice 
of  health  habits  with  a  full  educational  emphasis  upon  play, 
games,  recreation,  athletics  and  physical  exercise,  and  shall  fur- 
ther make  every  possible  reasonable  effort  to  influence  communi- 
ties and  municipalities  to  enact  laws  and  pass  ordinances  provid- 
ing for  community  and  industrial  physical  training  and  recreative 
activities   for  all   classes   and   ages  of  society. 

Second:  That  this  Association  shall  make  persistent  effort  to 
influence  state  boards  of  education,  or  their  equivalent  bodies,  in 
all  the  states  of  the  United  States,  to  make  it  their  effective  rule 
that  on  or  after  June,  1922,  or  some  other  reasonable  date,  no 
applicant  may  receive  a  license  to  teach  any  subject  in  any  school 
who  does  not  first  present  convincing  evidence  of  having  covered 
in  creditable  manner  a  satisfactory  course  in  physical  education  in 
a  reputable  training  school  for  teachers. 


186 


College  Teaching 


By  the 
United 
States  In- 
terdepart- 
mental 
Social 
Hygiene 
Board 


Third:  And  that  this  Association  hereby  directs  and  authorizes 
its  president  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  take  such  steps 
as  may  be  necessary  to  put  the  above  resolutions  into  active  and 
effective  operation,  and  to  cooperate  in  every  practical  and  sub- 
stantial way  with  the  National  Committee  on  Physical  Education, 
the  division  of  physical  education  of  the  Playground  and  Recrea- 
tion Association  of  America,  and  any  other  useful  agency  that 
may  be  in  the  field  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  proper  and  suf- 
ficient physical  education  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  to-day,  so  that 
they  may  to-morrow  constitute  a  nation  of  men  and  women  of 
normal  physical  growth,  normal  physical  development  and  normal 
functional  resource,  practicing  wise  habits  of  health  conservation 
and  possessed  of  greater  consequent  vitality,  larger  endurance, 
longer  lives  and  more  complete  happiness  —  the  most  precious  as- 
sets of  a  nation. 

In  January,  1919,  the  United  States  Interdepartmental 
Social  Hygiene  Board  suggested  the  following  organization 
of  a  department  of  hygiene  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
such  a  department  in  at  least  one  normal  school,  college, 
or  university  training  school  for  teachers  in  each  state  of 
the  Union. 

SUGGESTED  ORGANIZATION   OF  A  DEPARTMENT  OF   HYGIENE 
I.  Division    of    Informational    Hygiene.     (Stressing    in    each    of    its 
several    divisions    with    due    proportion    and    with    appropriate 
emphasis,  the  venereal   diseases,  their  causes,  carriers,  injuries, 
and  prevention)  : 

(a)  The  principles  of  hygiene.     Required  of  all  students  at 

least  twice  a  week  for  at  least  four  terms. 

(1)  General     hygiene.     (The     agents     that     injure 

health,  the  carriers  of  disease,  the  contribu- 
tory causes  of  poor  health,  the  defenses  of 
health,  and  the  sources  of  health.) 

(2)  Individual  hygiene.     (Informational  hygiene,  the 

care  of  the  body  and  its  organs,  correction,  and 
repair,  preventive  hygiene,  constructive  hy- 
giene. ) 

(3)  Group  hygiene.     (Hygiene  of  the  home  and  the 

family,  school  hygiene,  occupational  hygiene, 
community   hygiene.) 

(4)  Intergroup  hygiene.     ( Interf amily,  intercommtliu 

ity,  interstate,  and  international  hygiene.) 

(b)  Principles   of    physical    training.     (Gymnastics,   exercise, 

athletics,  recreation,  and  play.)  Required  of  all 
students.  To  be  given  at  least  twice  a  week  for  two 
terms  in  the  Junior  or  Senior  Years. 


Physical  Education  187 

(c)   Health   examinations  — 

(1)  Medical  examination  required  each  half  year  of 

every  student.  (Making  reasonable  provisions 
for  a  private,  personal,  confidential  relation- 
ship between   the  examiner  and   the   student.) 

(2)  Sanitary    surveys    and    hygienic    inspections    ap- 

plied regularly  to  all  divisions  of  the  in- 
stitution, their  curriculums,  buildings,  dormi- 
tories, equipment,  personal  service,  and  sur- 
roundings. 

II.  Division   of  Applied  Hygiene. 

(a)  Health  conference   and  consultations. 

(1)  Every  student  advised  under  "c"  above   (health 

examinations)  must  report  to  his  health  ex- 
aminer within  a  reasonable  time,  as  directed, 
with  evidence  that  he  has  followed  the  advice 
given,  or  with  a  satisfactory  explanation  for 
not    having    done    so. 

(2)  Must     provide    student    with    opportunities    for 

safe,  confidential  consultations  with  com- 
petent medical  advisors  concerning  the  inti- 
mate problems  of  sex  life  as  well  as  those  of 
hygiene  in  general. 

(b)  Physical   training. 

(1)  Gymnastic  exercises,  recreation,  games,  athletics, 

and  competitive  sports.  Required  of  all 
students   six   hours   a   week   every   term.   - 

(2)  Reconstructional   and   special   training  and  exer- 

cise for  students  not  qualified  organically  for 
the  regular  activities  covered  in  "  1  "  above. 
It  is  assumed  that  every  teacher-in-training 
physically  able  to  go  to  school  is  entitled  to 
and  should  take  some  form  of  physical  exer- 
cise. 

III.  Division  of  Research. 

(a)  Investigations,  tests,  evaluating  measurements,  records, 
and  reports  required  each  term  covering  progress  made 
under  each  division  and  subdivision  of  the  department, 
for  the  purpose  of  discovering  and  developing  more  ef- 
fective educational  methods  in  hygiene. 

(6)  Provide  facilities  for  the  sifting,  selection,  and  investiga- 
tion of  problems  in  hygiene  that  may  be  submitted  to 
or  proposed   by   the  department  of  hygiene. 

(c)  Arrange    for    frequent    lectures    on    public    hygiene    and 

public  health  from  competent   members  of  municipal, 


188  College  Teaching 

state,  and  national  departments  of  health,  and  from 
other  appropriate  sources. 

IV.  Personnel  requisite  for  such  a  department. —  Men  and  women 
should  be  chosen  for  service  in  the  several  divisions  of  the  De- 
partment, who  have  a  sane,  well-balanced,  and  experienced  ap- 
preciation of  the  importance  of  the  whole  field  of  hygiene  as 
well  as  of  the  place  and  relations  of  the  venereal  diseases. 

(1)  One   director  or  head   of   department.     Must   have   satis- 

factory scientific  training  and  special  experience,  fit- 
ting him  for  supervision,  leadership,  teaching,  research, 
and   administrative   responsibility. 

(2)  One    medical    examiner    for    men    and    one    medical    ex- 

aminer for  women.  There  should  be  one  examiner  for 
each  500  students.  Must  be  selected  with  special  care 
because  of  the  presence  of  extraordinary  opportuni- 
ties to  exercise  a  powerful  intimate  influence  upon  the 
mental,  moral,  and  physical  health  of  the  students 
with   whom   such   examiners  come   in   contact. 

(3)  One   special    teacher   of   physical    training    (a   "  Physical 

Director")  for  each  group  of  500  students.  There 
must  be  a  man  for  the  men  and  a  woman  for  the 
women  students.  The  physical  training  instructors  em- 
ployed in  this  department  should  be  in  charge  of  and 
should  cover  satisfactorily  all  the  directing,  training, 
and  coaching  carried  on  in  the  department  and  in  the 
institution  in  its  relation  to  athletics  and  competitive 
sports.  The  men  and  women  who  are  placed  in  charge 
of  individual  students  and  groups  of  students  engaged  in 
the  various  activities  of  physical  training  (gymnastics, 
athletics,  recreation  and  play)  should  be  selected  with 
special  reference  to  their  wholesome  influence  on  young 
men  and  young  women. 

(4)  One  coordinator    (this  function   may   be  covered   by  one 

of  the  personnel  covered  by  "1,"  "2"  or  "3"  above). 
Will  serve  to  influence  every  teacher  in  every  depart- 
ment on  the  entire  staff  of  the  institution  to  meet  his 
obligations,  in  relation  to  the  individual  hygiene  of  the 
students  in  his  classes  and  to  the  sanitation  of  the 
class  rooms  in  which  he  meets  his  students.  The  co- 
ordinator should  bring  information  to  all  teachers  and 
assist  them  to  meet  more  satisfactorily  their  oppor 
tunities  to  help  students  in  their  individual  problems 
in  social  hygiene. 

(5)  Special   lectures  on   the  principles  and   progress  of  pub- 

lic hygiene   and   public   health.    A   close   coordination 


Physical  Education 


189 


should   be  secured   between   this  department   and  com- 
munity   agencies   like    the    Department   of    Health   that 
are  concerned  with  public  hygiene. 
(6)  Sufficient    clerical,    stenographic    and    filing    service    to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  department. 

In  February,  1919,  the  field  service  of  the  National  Com- 
mittee on  Physical  Education  issued  a  tentative  outline  for 
a  state  law  for  physical  education,  suggested  for  use  in 
planning  future  legislation.  The  purposes  of  physical  edu- 
cation as  stated  in  the  preamble  of  this  law  read  as  follows: 

1.  In  order  that  the  children  of  the  State  of shall  re- 
ceive a  quality  and  an  amount  of  physical  education  that  will 
bring  to  them  the  health,  growth  and  a  normal  organic  develop- 
ment that  is  essential  to  their  fullest  present  and  future  education, 
happiness  and  usefulness;   and  in  order  that  the   future  citizenship 

of  the  State  of may   receive   regularly  from   the   growing  and 

developing  youth  of  the  Commonwealth  a  rapidly  increasing  num- 
ber of  more  vigorous,  better  educated,  healthier,  happier,  more  pros- 
perous and  longer  lived  men  and  women,  we,  the  people  of  the  State 
of represented  in  the  Senate  and  Assembly  do  enact  as  fol- 
lows: 

In  February,  1919,  the  legislative  committee  of  the  Na- 
tional Committee  on  Physical  Education  prepared  a  bill  for 
federal  legislation  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  states 
in  establishing  physical  education  in  their  schools.  This 
proposed  federal  law  stated  the  purpose  and  aim  of  physi- 
cal education  as  follows: 

The  purpose  and  aim  of  physical  education  in  the  meaning  of 
this  act  shall  be:  more  fully  and  thoroughly  to  prepare  the  boys 
and  girls  of  the  nation  for  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  citizen- 
ship through  the  development  of  bodily  vigor  and  endurance,  mus- 
cular strength  and  skill,  bodily  and  mental  poise,  and  such  desir- 
able moral  and  social  qualities  as  courage,  self-control,  self-subordin- 
ation and  obedience  to  authority,  cooperation  under  leadership, 
and  disciplined  initiative.  The  processes  and  agencies  for  secur- 
ing these  ends  shall  be  understood  to  include:  comprehensive  courses 
of  physical  training  activities,  periodical  physical  examination;  cor- 
rection of  postural  and  other  remediable  defects;  health  supervision 
of  schools  and  school  children;  practical  instruction  in  the  care  of 
the  body  and  in  the  principles  of  health;  hygienic  school  life,  sanitary 


By  Legisla- 
tive Com- 
mittee of 
National 
Committee 
on  Physical 
Education 


190 


College  Teaching 


school  buildings,  playgrounds,  and  athletic  6elds  and  the  equipment 
thereof;  and  such  other  means  as  may  be  conducive  to  these  pur- 
poses. 


Poor  typo 
of  physical 
education 
In  second- 
ary schools 
intensifies 
problem  in 
the  college 


An  analysis  of  these  several  authoritative  and  more  or 
less  official  documents  indicates  very  clearly  a  unanimity 
as  to  scope  and  aims  of  physical  education,  for  they  all 
seek  to  promote  and  conserve,  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the 
term,  the  health  of  the  nation. 

The  problem  of  physical  education  in  the  college  is  in- 
tensified by  the  fact  that  freshmen  come  to  their  chosen 
institutions  with  a  variety  of  experience  in  physical  train- 
ing, but  unfortunately  this  experience  is,  too  often,  either 
inadequate  or  ineffective.  The  natural  physical  training  of 
the  earlier  age  periods  produces  whatever  neuro-muscular 
development,  whatever  neuro-muscular  coordination,  what- 
ever neuro-muscular  control,  and  whatever  other  organic 
growth,  development,  or  functional  perfection  is  achieved 
by  the  young  human  concerned.  A  program  of  physical 
training  wisely  planned  with  reference  to  infancy,  child- 
hood, and  early  youth  would  include  types  of  exercises, 
play,  games,  and  sports,  that  would  perfect  the  neuro- 
muscular and  other  functions  far  more  completely  than  is 
commonly  accomplished  through  the  natural  unsupervised 
and  undirected  physical  training  of  those  early  age  periods 
either  in  city  or  in  rural  communities.  The  force  of  mod- 
ern habits  of  life  has  led  to  the  destruction  of  those  natural 
habits  of  work,  play,  and  recreation  that  gave  a  proportion 
of  our  forebears  a  fairly  complete  natural  program  of  physi- 
cal exercise  during  the  plastic  or  formative  periods  of 
life.  As  a  result,  many  students  reach  college  nowadays 
with  stunted  growths  and  with  poorly  developed,  poorly 
trained,  or  poorly  controlled  neuro-muscular  equipment. 
Some  of  these  matriculates  are  physically  weak.  They 
lack  alertness;  their  response  is  slow.  Others  are  awkward 
and  muscularly  inefficient,  though  their  physical  growth  is 
objectively  —  height  and  weight  —  normal  or  even  above 
normal. 


Physical  Education 


191 


The  College  Department  faces  these  problems  through 
special  provisions  made  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  a  be- 
lated neuro-muscular  training  to  such  cases.  It  often  hap- 
pens that  successful  training  along  these  lines  is  possible 
only  through  individual  instruction  of  a  most  elementary 
sort,  taking  the  student  through  simple  exercises  that  ought 
to  have  been  a  part  of  his  experience  in  early  childhood. 

For  the  same  reasons  that  are  stated  above,  the  College 
Department  of  Physical  Training  finds  it  necessary  to  con- 
cern itself  with  individual  students  who  need  special  atten- 
tion directed  to  specified  organs  or  groups  of  organs  whose 
training  or  care  could  have  been  accomplished  ordinarily 
far  better  at  an  earlier  period.  These  students  present 
problems  of  posture,  lung  capacity,  and  regional  weak- 
ness. 

The  College  Department  of  Physical  Training  finds  also 
a  significant  opportunity  and  an  urgent  duty  in  the  fact 
that  various  types  of  physical  exercise  are  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  social,  ethical,  and  moral  consequences.  No 
other  human  activity  gives  the  same  opportunity  for  the 
development  of  a  social  spirit  and  personal  ethical  stand- 
ards as  do  play,  games,  and  sports  of  children  and  adoles- 
cents. Unsupervised,  these  activities  degenerate  and  bring 
unmoral  practices  and  an  anti-social  spirit  in  their  wake. 

Because  of  these  opportunities  and  obligations.  College 
Departments  of  Physical  Training  are  including  within 
their  programs  and  jurisdictions  more  and  more  supervision 
of  college  athletics,  and  assume  an  ever  increasing  role 
in  the  direction  of  recreational  activities  of  college  stu- 
dents. It  remains  true,  however,  that  these  influences  of 
supervised  play  and  athletics  should  operate  long  before 
the  individual  reaches  college  age. 

The  intense  interest  of  college  students  in  athletic  com- 
petitions, united  with  the  opportunity  which  athletics  off"er 
for  social  and  character  training,  has  decided  a  number  of 
colleges  to  turn  athletic  training  over  to  the  Department 
of  Physical  Training.  This  preparation  for  the  supreme 
physical  and  physiological  test  must  be  built  upon  a  founda- 


IndiTldaal 
needs  of 
students 
augment 
problem  of 
department 
of  physical 
education 


Supervision 
of  athletics 
and  recrea- 
tion adds 
further  to 
its  problem 


192 


College  Teaching 


Organiza- 
tion of  De- 
partment of 
Physical 
Education 


tion  of  safe  and  sound  health.  There  is  no  more  fitting 
place  in  the  collegiate  organization  for  these  athletic  and 
recreational  activities. 

The  college  departments  that  cover  this  field  in  whole 
or  in  part  are  known  by  various  names.  We  have  depart- 
ments of  Physical  Training;  of  Physical  Education;  of 
Physical  Culture;  of  Hygiene;  of  Physiology  and  Physical 
Education;  of  Hygiene  and  Physical  Education;  of  Physical 
Training  and  Athletics,  and  so  on. 

An  analysis  of  these  college  departments  shows  that  they 
all  concern  themselves  with  much  the  same  important  ob- 
jects, although  they  differ  in  their  lines  of  greater  emphasis. 
We  find,  too,  that  in  some  colleges  the  department  includes 
activities  that  form  separate,  though  related  departments  in 
other  institutions. 

The  activities  of  such  departments  fall  into  three  large 
divisions,  each  one  of  which  has  its  logical  subdivisions. 
One  of  these  large  divisions  may  be  called  the  division  of 
health  examination.  It  has  t^  do  with  the  health  examina- 
tion of  the  individual  student  and  with  the  health  advice 
that  is  based  on  and  consequent  to  such  examination.  The 
second  division  has  to  do  with  health  instruction  cover- 
ing the  subject  matter  of  physical  training.  The  third 
division  covers  directed  experiences  in  right  living  and  the 
formation  of  health  habits,  and  includes  the  special  ac- 
tivities noted  above. 

We  often  refer  to  the  first  division  noted  above  as  the 
division  of  medical  inspection,  physical  examination,  or 
health  examination;  to  the  second  as  hygiene,  physiology, 
biology,  or  bacteriology;  and  to  the  third  as  gymnastics, 
physical  exercise,  organized  play,  recreation,  athletics,  or 
narrowly  as  physical  training. 

The  prime  purpose  of  collegiate  physical  training,  then, 
is  to  furnish  the  student  such  information  and  such  habit- 
forming  experiences  as  will  lead  him  to  formulate  and  prac- 
tice an  intelligent  policy  of  personal  health  control  and  an 
intelligent  policy  of  community  health  control.  The  col- 
lateral and  special  objects  of  physical  training  vary  with  the 


Phijsical  Education  193 

individual  student  under  the  influence  of  his  previous  train- 
ing and  his  present  and  future  life  plans. 

The  Collegiate  Department  of  Physical  Training  is  pri- 
marily concerned,  therefore,  with  the  acquisition  and  con- 
servation of  human  health  —  mental,  moral,  and  physical 
health.  Because  of  his  physical  training,  the  college  man 
should  live  longer;  he  should  meet  his  environments  obli- 
gations more  successfully;  he  should  be  better  able  to  pro- 
tect himself  from,  and  better  able  to  avoid,  injury;  he  should 
lose  less  time  on  account  of  injury,  poor  health,  and  sick- 
ness; he  should  get  well  more  rapidly  when  he  is  sick; 
he  should  be  better  able  to  recover  his  health  and 
strength  after  injury  or  illness;  and  he  should  therefore 
give  to  society  a  fuller,  happier,  and  more  useful  life. 

Such  a  department  is  concerned  secondarily  with  (a) 
those  special  defects  of  earlier  physical  training  that  bring 
to  college,  students  in  need  of  neuro-muscular  training 
and  organic  development,  (b)  with  social,  ethical,  and 
character  training,  and  (c)  with  the  conditioning  and  spe- 
cial training  of  students  for  athletic  competition  or  for 
other  extraordinary  physical  and  physiological  demands. 

In  the  light  of  the  above  statements,  the  objects  of  physi- 
cal training  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

I.  The  fundamental  and  ever  present  object  of  physical 
training  is  the  acquisition  and  conservation  of  vigorous, 
enduring  health,  the  summated  effect  of  perfect  functions  in 
each  and  every  organ  of  the  human  body. 

II.  The  special  objects  of  physical  training  vary  in  their 
needs  for  emphasis  at  different  age  periods  and  under  the 
changing  stresses  of  life.  Among  the  more  important  of 
these  special  objects  are: 

(1)  General,  normal  growth.     An  object  in  the  early  age 

periods. 

(2)  Neuro-muscular  development,  coordination,  and  con- 

trol.    Accomplished  best  in  early  age  periods. 

(3)  Special  organic  (anatomical  and  functional)  develop- 

ment.    Optimum  period  in  childhood  and  youth. 


194  College  Teaching 

(4)  Social,  ethical,  and  moral  training.     Character  build- 

ing. Objects  more  easily  secured  in  childhood  and 
youth. 

(5)  Preparation   for  some  supreme  physical  and  physio- 

logical test;  e.  g.,  athletic  competition,  police  or  fire 
service,  military  service.  Most  desirable  training 
period  in  late  youth  and  early  maturity.  Must  de- 
pend, however,  on  the  effects  of  earlier  physical 
training. 

(6)  The  formation  of  health  habits.     Best  accomplished  in 

early  life  but  commonly  an  important  function  of 
the   College   Department   of   Physical   Training. 

(7)  The  conservation   of  health.     Always   an   object,  but 

more  particularly  so  in  the  middle  and  later  life. 

THE    MEDICAL    EXAMINATION 

In  the  American  college  of  today,  the  student's  first 
contact  with  the  Department  of  Physical  Training  is  very 
likely  to  be  in  the  examining  room.  In  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York  ^  it  has  become  the  established  custom 
to  require  a  satisfactory  health  examination  before  ad- 
mitting the  applicant  to  registration  as  a  student  in  the 
college.  Entering  classes  are  enrolled  in  this  institution 
at  the  beginning  of  each  term,  and  in  each  list  of  appli- 
cants there  are  always  a  few  to  whom  admission  is  de- 
nied because  of  unsatisfactory  health  conditions. 

In  each  case  in  which  admission  is  denied  because  of  un- 
satisfactory health,  the  individual  is  given  careful  advice 
relative  to  his  present  and  probable  future  condition,  and 
every  effort  is  made  to  help  the  applicant  plan  his  life 
so  that  he  may  be  able  at  a  later  time  to  enter  the  college. 
Of  course,  it  occasionally  happens  that  applicants  are 
found  with  serious  and  incurable  health  defects  which  make 
it  very  improbable  that  they  will  ever  be  in  condition  to 
attempt  a  college  education. 

*  The  construction  of  this  chapter  on  the  teaching  of  physical 
training  is  based  very  largely  upon  the  experiences  and  organ- 
ization of  the  Department  of  Hygiene  in  the  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York. 


Physical  Education 


195 


The  health  examination  of  the  student  should  cover  those   scope  of 
facts  in  his  family  and   personal   health  history  that  are    amination 
likely  to  have  a  bearing  upon  his  present  or  future  health, 
and   the   examination    should    include   a   very   careful    in- 
vestigation of  the  important  organs  of  his  body.     This  ex- 
amination calls  for  expert  medical  and  dental  service. 

The  most  useful  examiner  is  he  who  is  at  the  same  time  Howtocon- 
a  teacher.  Nowhere  else  is  a  better  or  even  an  equally  good  examination 
opportunity  given  to  drive  home  impressively,  and  some- 
times dramatically,  important  lessons  in  individual  hygiene. 
Through  a  pair  of  experimental  lenses  placed  by  his  ex- 
aminer before  his  hitherto  undiscovered  visual  brain  cells, 
the  young  student  who  has  had  poor  vision  and  has  never 
known  it,  may  obtain,  for  the  first  time,  a  glimpse  of  the 
beauty  in  his  surroundings. 

The  dental  examiner  who  finds  bad  teeth  and  explains 
bad  teeth  to  the  student  whose  health  is  being,  or  may  be, 
destroyed  by  such  teeth,  has  before  him  all  the  elements 
necessary  for  very  effective  health  instruction. 

The  health  examination  should  be  a  personal  and  pri-    . 
vate  affair.     It  is  often  best  not  to  have  even  a  recorder 
present.     The    student    should    understand    that    whatever 
passes  between  him  and  his  examiner  is  entirely  confiden- 
tial. 

All  advice  given  a  student  at  these  examinations  should  be 
followed  up  if  it  is  the  kind  of  advice  that  can  be  followed 
up.  If  the  advice  involves  the  attention  of  a  dentist  or 
treatment  by  a  physician,  time  should  be  allowed  for  mak- 
ing arrangements  and  for  securing  the  treatment  neces- 
sary. After  that  time  has  elapsed  the  student  should  be 
called  upon  to  report  with  information  from  his  parent 
or  guardian,  or  from  his  family  health  adviser,  indicating 
what  has  been  done  or  will  be  done  for  the  betterment 
of  the  conditions  for  which  the  advice  was  originally  given. 
In  the  hands  of  a  tactful  examiner  —  one  who  is  a  teacher 
as  well  as  an  examiner  —  the  student  and  parent,  particu- 
larly the  parent,  will  cooperate  effectively  in  this  plan 
for  the  development  of  health  habits  of  the  student.     Less 


196  College  Teaching 

than  three  tenths  of  one  per  cent  of  the  parents  of  City 
College  students  refuse  to  secure  special  health  attention  for 
their  boys  when  we  do  so  advise. 

These  examinations  should  be  repeated  at  reasonable  in- 
tervals throughout  the  entire  college  course.  We  have 
found  in  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York  that  a  repe- 
tition every  term  is  none  too  frequent.  Visual  defects, 
dental  defects,  evidences  of  heart  trouble  and  signs  of 
pulmonary  tuberculosis,  and  other  defects,  not  infrequently 
arise  in  cases  of  individuals  who  have  been  seen  several  times 
before  without  showing  any  evidence  of  poor  health.  It  is 
hoped  that  these  repeated  examinations  may  lead  to  the 
continuation  of  such  habits  of  bodily  care  in  postgraduate 
years. 

A  careful  and  concise  record  must  be  made  covering  the 
main  facts  of  each  examination  and  of  each  conference 
with  the  student  subsequent  to  his  examination.  These 
memoranda  enable  the  examiner  at  each  later  examination 
to  talk  to  the  student  with  a  knowledge  of  what  has  been 
found  and  what  has  been  said  and  what  has  been  done 
on  preceding  examinations,  and  on  preceding  follow-up 
conferences.  As  a  result,  the  examiner-teacher  is  in  posi- 
tion to  be  very  much  more  useful  not  only  because  of  sig- 
nificant facts  before  him  concerning  the  student  with  whom 
he  is  talking,  but  also  because  of  the  greater  confidence 
which  the  student  will  necessarily  have  in  an  examiner  who 
is  obv^iously  interested  in  him  and  who  possesses  such  fin 
accurate  record  of  his  health  history. 

These  examinations  should  apply  to  every  student  in  a 
college  or  a  university,  regardless  of  the  division  to  which 
he  belongs.  The  need  for  health  instruction  or  for  the 
establishment  of  health  habits,  in  order  that  one  may  be 
physically  trained  for  the  exigencies  of  life,  is  not  peculiar 
to  any  student  age  period  or  to  any  academic  or  technico- 
logical  group,  or  to  a  college  for  men  or  a  college  for 
women. 

One  of  the  dangers  present  in  these  college  examinations 
is  the  tendency  of  the  examiner  to  become  more  interested 


Physical  Education 


197 


in  the  number  of  students  examined  and  the  number  of 
diagnoses  made  than  in  the  good  influence  he  may  have 
upon  the  heahh  future  of  the  student. 

Every  "  case  "  should  be  treated  by  the  health  examiner 
as  if  it  were  the  first  and  only  case  on  hand  for  the  day. 
The  student  certainly  classifies  the  examiner  as  the  first 
and  only  one  he  has  had  that  day.  The  examiner  should 
plan  to  make  every  contact  he  has  with  a  student  a  help  to 
the  student. 


HEALTH    INSTRUCTION 

A  second  large  division  of  physical  training  deals  with 
health  instruction.  As  has  been  pointed  out  above,  the 
division  of  health  examination  produces  a  very  important 
and  very  useful  opportunity  for  individual  health  instruc- 
tion. 

Hygiene,  however,  is  presented  commonly  to  groups  of  Content 
students  in  class  organization  rather  than  individually,  ^struction 
Anatomy,  physiology,  psychology,  bacteriology,  pathology, 
general  hygiene,  individual  hygiene,  group  hygiene,  and 
intergroup  hygiene  are  sciences,  or  combinations  of  sciences, 
from  which  physical  training  draws  its  facts.  These 
sciences  and  those  phases  of  economics  and  sociology  that 
have  to  do  with  the  economic  and  social  influences  of 
health  and  disease,  of  physical  efficiency  and  physical  de- 
generacy, supply  physical  training  with  its  general  subject 
matter. 

Health  instruction,  then,  as  a  part  of  physical  training, 
draws  its  content  from  these  sources.  A  logical  plan  of 
class  instruction  would,  therefore,  include  the  elements  of 
anatomy,  physiology,  psychology,  bacteriology  (and  general 
parasitology),  pathology,  economics,  and  sociology,  as  a 
basis  for  a  more  complete  presentation  of  the  facts  of  gen- 
eral hygiene,  individual  hygiene,  group  hygiene,  and  inter- 
group hygiene. 

The  most  satisfactory  presentation  of  these  subjects  in-   Method  of 
volves  the  grouping  of  students  into  small  classes,  the  em-    stmction 


198  College  Teaching 

ployment  of  laboratory  methods,  the  use  of  reference  libra- 
ries, and  the  assignment  of  problems  for  investigation 
and  study,  with  a  general  group  discussion  of  these 
problems. 

Unfortunately,  college  classes  are  large  and  the  number 
of  teachers  employed  in  the  department  of  physical  train- 
ing, or  in  those  departments  from  which  physical  training 
draws  its  science  and  its  philosophy,  is  small,  so  that  it  is 
impractical  to  plan  to  give  this  instruction  to  small  groups 
of  students  covering  this  range  of  subject  matter. 

As  a  result,  the  lecture  method  with  its  obvious  defects 
and  shortcomings  is  the  common  medium  for  the  health 
instruction  of  college  students  organized  into  classes.  The 
more  intimate  and  detailed  instruction  in  these  subjects  is 
is  secured  in  special  courses  and  in  professional  schools. 

In  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  we  expect  that 
students  who  come  to  us  from  high  schools  and  prepara- 
tory schools  have  had  the  elements  of  anatomy  and  physi- 
ology either  in  courses  on  those  subjects  or  in  courses  in 
biology.^  Our  health  instruction,  therefore,  has  been  de- 
veloped along  the  lines  of  lectures  on  general  hygiene,  in- 
dividual hygiene,  group  hygiene,  and  intergroup  hygiene 
running  through  the  four  terms  of  the  freshman  and  sopho- 
more years. 

These  lectures  are  given  in  periods  of  from  ten  to  fifteen 
minutes  each,  preceding  class  work  in  various  forms  of 
physical  exercise.  They  are  often  called  "  floor  talks." 
The  shortness  of  the  presentation  favors  vigor  of  address; 
necessitates  a  concise  organization  of  material  and  a  clarity 
and  brevity  of  statement;  and  is  more  likely  to  command 
student  attention  and  concentration.  It  has,  however,  its 
obvious  defects.  In  these  lectures  persistent  effort  is  made 
to  influence  the  daily  habits  of  the  student.  The  lecture 
content  is  selected  with  reference  to  the  practical  problems 
of  the  daily  life  of  the  individual  and  of  the  community 
of  which  he  is  a  part.     It  is  obvious  that  the  amount  of 

*  This    precollegiate    instruction    is,    unfortunately,    uniformly    poor 
in  so   far  as  it  relates  to  health. 


Physical  Education  199 

lime  devoted  to  the  presentation  of  the  subject  matter  is 
utterly  inadequate. 

Short  written  tests  are  given  once  each  month,  and  a 
longer  written  test  is  given  at  the  end  of  each  term.  These 
examinations  stimulate  the  student  to  organize  his  informa- 
tion and  make  it  more  completely  his  own  property.  The 
classes  are  too  large  ^  and  the  instructional  force  relatively 
too  small  to  permit  the  assignment  of  references,  presenta- 
tion of  reports,  and  the  conduct  of  investigations. 

Further  instruction  in  physiology  and  bacteriology  is  se- 
cured in  this  institution  through  elective  courses  open  to 
students  in  their  junior  and  senior  years.  These  elective 
courses,  however,  are  not  planned  primarily  for  the  health 
education  of  the  student,  but  rather  for  his  partial  prepara- 
tion as  a  teacher  of  physical  training,  a  student  of  medicine, 
a  scientific  specialist,  or  for  public  health  work. 

HEALTH-FORMING    ACTIVITIES   OF   THE    DEPART- 
MENT   OF    PHYSICAL    EDUCATION 

The  third  division  of  activities  contains  the  health-habit- 
forming  influences  covered  by  the  Department  of  Physical 
Training,  These  influences  are  formed  partly  in  connec- 
tion with  the  follow-up  activities  associated  with  the  health 
examinations  and  advice  noted  above;  partly  through  im- 
pressions made  by  way  of  individual  and  class  instruction 
concerning  the  laws  of  health  (also  noted  above) ;  and 
partly  through  systematic  class  work,  group  work,  and  in- 
dividual work  in  gymnastics,  organized  recreation,  games, 
play,  and  athletics. 

The  student  who  has  been  given  a  health  examination 
each  term  throughout  his  college  career  will  be  very  likely 
to  continue  the  practice  as  a  habit  after  graduation.  This 
habit  will  follow  more  surely  if  the  examiner  has  been  a 
real  health  teacher  and  not  a  perfunctory  recorder  of  ob- 
servations  made  upon  the  student.     A   lack  of  sympathy 

1  The   present   enrollment   in   these   classes,   February,    1919,   is   ap- 
proximately 1500. 


100 


College  Teaching 


Place  of 
pbysical 
exercise  in 
program  for 
pbysical 
education 


Class  work 
in  physical 
exercise 


and  tact  may  easily  prejudice  the  student  against  the  ex- 
amination. 

The  student  who  has  been  led  regularly  to  care  for  de- 
fects of  one  sort  or  another;  whose  contact  with  his  ex- 
aminer-teacher in  conferences  following  up  the  advice  that 
has  been  given  at  the  time  of  examination  has  been  ac- 
companied by  the  right  sort  of  explanation  and  mutual 
understanding,  will  be  more  likely  to  continue  to  exercise 
that  sort  of  care  for  the  welfare  of  his  body  after  he  is 
no  longer  under  the  influence  of  the  college. 

The  student  who  has  seen  the  application  of  class  health 
talks  to  his  everyday  problems  is  likely  to  be  influenced  to 
the  practice  of  consequent  health  habits,  particularly  if 
those  short  lectures  serve  to  correlate  his  various  habit- 
forming  experiences  while  in  college. 

And  finally,  the  student  who  is  brought  into  contact  with 
regular  systematic  exercise  may,  if  the  exercise  is  attract- 
ive and  interesting,  achieve  a  health  habit  that  will  be 
carried  out  into  his  postgraduate  life. 

The  existence  of  the  Department  of  Physical  Training 
would  be  amply  justified  if  its  influence  upon  the  health 
and  vigor  of  the  student  were  limited  to  the  period  of  his 
stay  in  college.  The  full  success  of  this  department,  how- 
ever, like  that  of  all  other  college  departments,  must  be 
measured  by  its  influence  upon  the  life  of  the  student  after 
he  has  left  college.  The  formation  of  lasting  health  habits 
is,  therefore,  the  most  important  object  of  this  department. 

Regular  appropriate  physical  exercise  is  one  of  our  most 
important  health  habits.  It  is  perhaps  safe  to  say  that  for 
the  average  individual  it  is  the  most  important  health  habit. 
This  is  true  because  of  its  intimate  and  impressive  influence 
upon  all  the  fundamental  organic  functions  of  the  body. 
Physical  exercise  in  the  American  college  is  provided  either 
as  organized  class  work  in  the  gymnasium,  or  by  means 
of  voluntary  recreational  opportunities,  or  through  ath- 
letics. 

Class  work  may  include:  marching,  mass  drills  with  or 
without  light  apparatus,  work  on  heavy  apparatus,  games, 


Physical  Education 


201 


dancing,  swimming,  and  track  and  field  work.  This  class 
work  may  be  indoors  or  outdoors,  depending  on  the  season 
or  climate. 

Voluntary  recreational  opportunities  are  offered  through 
free  mass  drills  open  to  all  students  who  may  desire  to  take 
them  regularly  or  irregularly;  through  open  periods  for  ap- 
paratus work;  and  through  facilities  and  space  for  games, 
swimming,  mass  athletics,  and  so  on. 

Competitive  athletics  are  typical  of  the  American  col- 
lege. Theoretically,  athletics  are  open  to  all  students. 
Practically,  in  many  of  our  colleges  athletics  are  made 
available  only  to  the  student  with  leisure  time  and  excep- 
tional physique.  Consistent  effort  is  being  made  today  by 
college  authorities  to  provide  opportunities  for  intramural 
(interclass,  intergroup,  and  mass)  athletics  for  the  whole 
student  body;  at  the  same  time  preserving  the  desirable 
features  of  the  more  specialized  intercollegiate  competitions. 

Physical  exercise  in  these  various  forms  has  its  imme- 
diate and  valuable  influence  upon  the  health  condition  of  the 
individual  student,  if  taken  in  sufficient  quantity.  It  has  its 
lasting  and  very  much  more  important  influence  in  those 
cases  in  which  physical  exercise  becomes  a  habit.  It  has, 
therefore,  become  the  increasing  concern  of  the  college 
teacher  of  physical  training  to  develop  activities  in  physical 
exercise  that  the  student  may  use  after  graduatipn.  Teachers 
of  physical  training  have  become  more  and  more  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  interesting  exercise,  not  only  because 
interesting  exercise  is  more  likely  to  become  habitual  exer- 
cise, but  also  because  exercise  that  is  accompanied  by  the 
play  spirit,  by  happiness  and  joy,  is  physiologically  and 
therefore  healthfully  of  very  much  more  value  to  the  in- 
dividual. The  relationship  between  cheerfulness  and  good 
health  has  become  very  firmly  established  through  the 
scientific  researches  of  the  modern  physiologist.  We  know 
that  health  habits  which  are  associated  with  cheerfulness  and 
happiness  are  bound  to  be  more  effective. 

The  teacher  of  physical  training  finds  opportunity  for  inci- 
dental and  yet  very  important  instruction   leading  to  the 


Additional 
facilities 
for  physi- 
cal exercise 


Becreation- 
al  activities 
and  ath- 
letics 


Inculcating 
habits  of 
physical 
exercise 


202 


College  Teaching 


Opportuni- 
ties for 
character 
building 


formation  of  fine  qualities  of  character  and  fine  standards 
of  personal  conduct.  These  opportunities  arise  constantly 
in  the  various  general  types  of  physical  exercise  found  in  the 
curriculum  of  the  department  of  physical  training.  They 
are  especially  present  in  those  activities  in  which  compe- 
tition occurs,  as  in  play,  games,  and  athletics.  These  ac- 
tivities do  not  in  themselves  produce  excellent  qualities  of 
character  or  high  standards  of  conduct,  but  the  teacher  — 
whether  he  be  called  a  coach  or  a  trainer  or  a  professor 
of  hygiene  —  who  sets  a  good  example  and  who  insists 
that  every  game  played,  and  every  contest,  whether  it  be 
in  a  handball  court  between  college  chums  or  on  the  foot- 
ball field  between  college  teams,  shall  be  clean  and  fair, 
is  using  in  the  right  way  one  of  the  opportunities  present 
in  the  entire  college  life  of  the  student,  for  the  formation 
of  fine  character. 


SPECIAL    EXERCISES    FOR    SPECIAL   GROUPS 

In  any  given  group  of  college  students  one  will  find  a 
number  of  individuals  in  need  of  special  or  modified  physi- 
cal exercise.  These  students  may  be  grouped  commonly 
under  the  following  heads:  (1)  undeveloped,  (2)  bad  pos- 
ture, (3)   awkward,  (4)   originally  weak,  (5)  deformed. 

Some  of  these  students  suffer  from  defects  that  are  reme- 
diable. Some  of  these  defects  are  due  to  poor  physical 
training  in  earlier  years.  Some  are  the  results  of  disease. 
All  of  them  call  for  modified  exercise  and  recreation.  The 
fact  that  a  student  may  fall  into  one  of  these  groups  in  no 
way  justifies  the  assumption  that  he  is  therefore  no  longer 
subject  to  the  laws  of  health  or  to  the  need  for  rational 
health  habits.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  such  cases  generally 
call  for  greater  care  and  attention  in  the  formulation  and 
operation  of  a  rational  policy  of  right  living. 

Every  student  physically  able  to  go  to  college  is  physi- 
cally able  to  exercise.  No  student  in  attendance  on  recita- 
tions anywhere  can  offer  a  rational  plea  for  exemption  from 
exercise.     The    individual   whose   physical   condition    con- 


Physical  Education  203 

traindicates  all  forms  of  exercise  needs  careful  medical  ad- 
vice and  probably  needs  hospital  or  sanitarium  treatment. 
College  Departments  of  Physical  Training  are  planning 
for  cases  in  need  of  special  or  modified  exercise,  through  the 
organization  of  special  classes  and  through  individual  at- 
tention. In  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York  we  at- 
tempt to  group  the  weak  students  in  a  given  class,  into 
squads  of  four  such  students  with  a  squad  leader,  a  stu- 
dent. The  awkward  students  are  grouped  in  the  same  man- 
ner. The  exercise  of  the  cripple  and  the  student  with  seri- 
ous organic  weakness  is  individualized.  These  special  in- 
dividualized cases  are  under  the  direct  supervision  of  a 
physician  on  the  staff. 


ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    STUDENTS    FOR    PRESCRIBED 
WORK    IN    THE    COLLEGE    COURSES 

In  this  college,  organized,  directed  physical  exercise  as 
outlined  above  is  covered  in  the  division  of  physical  train- 
ing, the  division  of  recreation,  and  the  division  of  athletics, 
all  of  which  are  subdivisions  of  the  Department  of  Hygiene. 

The  enrollment  in  the  required  classes  in  the  division  of 
Physical  Training  varies  from  thirty  in  the  smaller  classes 
to  over  two  hundred  in  the  larger.  The  total  enrollment 
has  been  approximately  eleven  hundred  each  term  for  sev- 
eral years.  These  courses  are  required  of  all  students  dur- 
ing the  first  four  collegiate  terms.  Each  of  these  four 
courses  requires  three  hours  a  week,  distributed  over  two  or 
into  three  periods,  and  credits  the  student  with  one  half 
point  toward  graduation.  This  time  allowance  is,  however, 
inadequate. 

The  class  organization  in  the  division  of  the  Department 
of  Hygiene  is  based  on  a  unit  composed  of  five  students. 
Each  of  these  units  or  squads  contains  one  student  who  is 
designated  as  the  "  leader  "  of  that  unit. 

Persistent  effort  is  made  to  assign  students  of  like  physical 
development  and  needs  to  the  same  squads.     In  this  man- 


204 


College  Teaching 


A  class 
period  in 
physical 
exercise 


ner  a  single  class  of  a  hundred  young  men  will  have  a 
graduation  on  the  basis  of  proficiency  which  makes  it  pos- 
sible for  the  teacher  to, come  very  near  to  the  rational  ap- 
plication of  exercise  for  the  individual  student. 

These  units  or  squads  are  organized  into  divisions,  each 
division  being  made  up  of  four  squads.  Each  division  is 
under  the  supervision  and  instruction  of  a  member  of  the 
departmental  staff.  In  any  given  class,  then,  there  is  a 
regular  instructor  for  each  group  of  twenty  students,  and 
a  student  leader  for  each  group  of  four  students.  The 
aim  in  this  organization  is  to  establish  a  relationship  be- 
tween the  instructor  and  his  twenty  students  that  will  se- 
cure for  him  an  intimate  knowledge  of  each  young  man, 
relating  to  his  physical  training  needs,  general  and  special. 

A  typical  class  period  is  made  up  of  a  short  health 
talk,  10  minutes;  a  mass  drill,  10  minutes;  apparatus  period, 
two  changes,  20  minutes;  and  a  play  period,  15  minutes. 
If  the  health  talk  is  not  given  the  play  period  is  lengthened. 

The  mass  drills  referred  to  above  are  made  up  of  drill  in 
marching  and  in  gymnastics  with  and  without  hand  appa- 
ratus. These  drills  are  graded  within  the  term  and  from 
term  to  term  so  that  a  desirable  variety  is  secured.  They 
are  devised  for  disciplinary,  postural,  developmental,  and 
health  purposes.  During  the  progress  of  the  drill  the  in- 
structors present  inspect  the  posture  and  work  of  the  stu- 
dents in  their  divisions. 

The  apparatus  periods  referred  to  include  work  on  the 
conventional  pieces  of  gymnastic  apparatus,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  chest  weights,  an  indoor  track,  and  a  swimming 
pool.  The  squad  organization  for  this  work  gives  oppor- 
tunity for  the  development  of  student  leadership  which  is 
often  of  extraordinary  educational  value  to  the  individual 
boy.  These  periods,  because  of  this  squad  organization, 
may  be  utilized  for  such  special  exercise  emphasis  as  may 
be  decided  upon  for  any  given  group  of  students.  It  is 
here  that  special  conditioning  may  be  given  those  young 
men  who  are  planning  for  military  training  or  who  need 
selected  exercise  for  neuro-muscular  development. 


Physical  Education 


205 


The  play  period  in  the  regular  class  program  is  devoted 
largely  to  looser  games  that  contain  a  predominating  ele- 
ment of  big  muscle  activities.  Competition  is  a  fairly 
constant  factor.  Here,  again,  our  squad  unit  permits  us 
to  assign  selected  groups  of  students  to  special  types  of 
games.  It  is  feasible,  in  this  organization,  to  satisfy  a  need 
for  the  training  that  is  furnished  by  highly  organized  games, 
fighting  games,  and  by  games  and  out-of-door  events  that 
develop  special  groups  of  muscles  and  special  coordina- 
tions. 

A  well-organized  Collegiate  Department  of  Physical  Train- 
ing could  cooperate  very  effectively  with  a  Collegiate  Depart- 
ment of  Military  Training.  The  squad  organization  in  ap- 
paratus periods  and  in  play  periods  offers  the  best  pos- 
sible avenue  for  a  successful  emphasis  of  several  of  the 
very  important  phases  of  military  physical  training. 

The  division  of  recreation  in  the  Department  of  Hygiene   Recreation- 
in  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  takes  charge  of   in  addition 
all  recreational  and  athletic  space  and  all  recreational  and   ^^bed 
intramural  athletic  activities  in  those  periods  of  the  day   work 
in  which  regular  class  work  does  not  take  precedence.     Stu- 
dents of  all  classes  are  admitted  freely  throughout  their 
four  collegiate  years  to  these  activities,  and  a  studied  ef- 
fort, is  made  to  increase  their  attractiveness  as  well  as  to 
secure  from  them  their  full  social  and  character-training 
values.     Such  values  depend  to  a  very  large  degree  upon  the 
experienced  supervision  and  direction  given  these  activities. 
It  does  not  follow  that  the  creation  of  play  opportunity  is 
bound  to   produce  good   citizenship.     The  quality   of  the 
product  depends  upon  the  quality  of  the  man  or  men  in 
charge  of  the  enterprise. 

The  most  important  mission  of  the  Recreational  Division 
is  its  purpose  to  furnish  the  student  lasting  habits  of  play 
and  recreation  based  upon  the  physical  development  he 
has  secured  in  his  earlier  experiences  in  physical  training. 
After  all,  one's  physical  training  should  begin  at  birth  and 
continue  throughout  life. 

The  Division  of  Athletic  Instruction  is  concerned  with 


206  College  Teaching 

all  plans  for  intercollegiate  athletics,  including  organization, 
financing,  training,  coaching,  and  scheduling.  All  these  ac- 
tivities are  under  the  direction  of  members  of  the  staff 
of  the  Department  of  Hygiene.  There  is  no  one  employed 
in  this  relationship  who  is  not  a  member  of  the  staff.  Con- 
stant attempts  are  made,  in  every  reasonable  way,  to  ac- 
complish the  athletic  ideals  that  have  been  set  up  by  the 
National  Collegiate  Athletic  Association.  Clean  play, 
honorable  methods,  and  sportsmanly  standards  dominate 
the  theory  and  practice  of  this  athletic  instruction  and  super- 
vision. 

The  scope  and  content  of  physical  training  which  I  have 
attempted  to  present  in  these  pages  is  brought  out  more 
clearly  by  the  following  announcement  of  the  Department 
of  Hygiene  of  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York: 

HYGIENE  (1916-17) 

The  Department  of  Hygiene  is  made  up  of  the  divisions  of 
Physical  Training,  Physiology,  Bacteriology,  Health  Examination, 
Recreational   Instruction,  and  Athletics. 

Through  these  divisions  the  Department  attempts  to  train  young 
men  for  the  exigencies  of  life  through  the  establishment  of  enduring 
habits  of  health  examination  and  repair,  health  information  and 
individual  and  community  protection  against  the  agents  that  in- 
jure health  and  cause  disease,  and  through  the  establishment  of 
wise  habits  of  daily  life. 

This  organization  gives  opportunity  for  the  development  of  neg- 
lected organic  and  neuromuscular  growth,  coordination  and  con- 
trol; for  the  social,  ethical,  and  moral  training  (character  build- 
ing influences)  inherent  in  wisely  supervised  athletic  and  recrea- 
tional experiences;  and  for  the  special  conditioning  that  accom- 
panies training  for  severe  physical  and  physiological  competition  and 
other  tests. 

Finally,  preparation  may  be  secured  for  life  work  along  certain 
lines  of  research,  certain  medical  sciences,  various  phases  of  pub- 
lic health,  physical  training  and  social  work. 

In  addition,  this  Department  is  concerned  with  all  those  influ- 
ences within  the  College  which  aff^ect  the  health  of  the  student. 
Every  reasonable  eff'ort  is  made  to  keep  the  institution  safe  and 
attractive  to  the  clean,  healthy  individual. 


Physical  Education  207 

Division  of  Physical  Training 

1.  Course  One. 

(a)  Lectures.    "  Some  of  the  common  causes  of  disease." 

(b)  Physical  Exercise, 
i.     Graded  mass  drills. 

(a)  Elementary  drills  are  used  in  order  to  develop  obediefi-oe, 
alertness,  and  ready  response  to  command,  accurate  execution,  good 
posture  and  carriage  and  facility  of  control. 

(6)     More  advanced   drills  are   given   in  which   movements   are 
made  in  response  to  commands.     Strength,  endurance,  and  coordina- 
tion are  brought  into  play. 
ii.     Apparatus  work.     Continuation  of  graded  exercises  for  squads 

of  five  students  each, 
iii.     Selected,    graded,    recreative    indoor    and    outdoor    games    and 

play, 
iv.      Swimming.     Each   student   is   required   to   learn   to   swim   with 

more  than  one  variety  of  stroke. 
Prescribed.  Freshman,  first  term ;  three  hours  a  week ;  counts  V^. 

2.  Course  Two. 

ia)     Lectures.     "The  carriers  of  disease." 

(b)  Physical  Exercise. 

i.     Graded    mass   drills.     Two-count    movements.     These   drills   are 
continuations  of,  but  more  advanced  than  those  given  in  the 
preceding  term, 
ii.    Apparatus  work.     Continuation  of  graded  exercises  for  squads 

of  five, 
iii.     Selected,    graded,    recreative    indoor    and    outdoor    games    and 

play, 
iv.     Swimming.     Each  student  is  required  to  develop  endurance  in 
swimming. 
Prerequisite:   Hygiene  \. 

Prescribed.    Freshman,    second    term;     three    hours    a    week; 
counts  V'z. 

3.  Course    Three. 

(a)     Lectures.    "The  contributory  causes  and  carriers  of  dis- 
ease." 
ib)     Physical  Exercise, 
i.     Graded    mass    drills.    Four-count    movements.    More    advanced 

work, 
ii.     Apparatus  work.     Continuation  of  graded  exercises  for  squads 

of  five, 
iii.     Selected,    graded,    recreative    indoor    and    outdoor    games    and 
play. 


208  College  Teaching 

iv.     Swimming.     Diving,  rescue  and   resuscitation  of  the  drowning. 
Prerequisite:  Hygiene  2. 
Prescribed.     Sophomore,  first  term;  three  hours  a  week;  counts 

V2. 

4.  Course  Four. 

(a)  Lectures.     "  Defenses   against   poor  health   and   disease." 

(b)  Physical  Exercise. 

i.     Advanced  graded   mass   drills.     Eight-count   movements, 
ii.     Advanced  graded  apparatus  work.     For  squads  of  five. 
iii.     Selected,    graded,    recreative    indoor    and    outdoor    games    and 

play, 
iv.     Swimming.     Advanced    continuation    of    requirements    outlined 
for  Courses  2  and  3. 
Prerequisite:  Hygiene  3. 

Prescribed.     Sophomore,    second    term;    three    hours    a    week; 
counts  V2. 

Modified  Course. 

In  each  of  the  above  required  courses  provision  is  made  for  those 
students  whose  organic  condition  may  permanently  disqualify  them 
for  the  regular  scheduled  work.  This  special  work  is  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  a  medical  member  of  the  Staff. 

5.  Intermediate  Physical  Training. 

This  course  is  planned  to  supply  the  student  with  such  organic 
development  and  efficiency  as  will  enable  him  to  demonstrate  suc- 
cessfully as  a  teacher  various  type  exercises  for  classes  in  elemen- 
tary and  intermediate  indoor  and  outdoor  gymnastics,  aquatics,  games, 
play  and  athletics. 

Prerequisite:  Hygiene  4.     Three  hours  a  week;  counts  ^2. 

6.  Advanced  Physical  Training. 

This  course   is   a   continuation  of   Course  5,   and  is  designed   for 
the  physical  equipment  of  teachers  of  more  advanced  physical  work. 
Prerequisite:     Hygiene  5.    Three  hours  a  week;  counts  %. 

7.  Class  Management. 

This  course  supplies  the  practical  instruction  and  experience 
needed  for  the  training  of  special  teachers  in  the  management  of 
elementary  and  intermediate  classes  in  various  forms  of  physical  ex- 
ercise. 

Prerequisite:    Hygiene    6    and    32,      Fall   term,   three    hoars    a 
week;  counts  1. 

8.     Class  Management. 

This  course  is  a  continuation  of  Course  7.  It  is  planned  to  give 
a  training  in  the  management  of  more  advanced  classes. 


Phifsical  Education  209 

Prerequisite:  Hygiene  7.  Spring  term,  three  hours  a  week; 
counts  1. 

9.     Control  of  Emergencies  and  First  Aid  to  the  Injured. 

This  course  supplies  instruction  concerning  the  management  and 
protective  care  of  common  emergencies.  The  instruction  is  prac- 
tical and  rational.  It  covers  such  emergencies  as:  sprains,  frac- 
tures, dislocations,  wounds,  bruises,  sudden  pain,  fainting,  epileptic 
attacks,  unconsciousness,  drowning,  electric  shock,  and  so  on. 
Prerequisite:  Hygiene  32.     Fall  term,  two  hours  a  week;  counts  1. 

10.  Theory  and  Practice  of  Individual  Instruction  in  Hygiene  and 
in  Departmental  Sanitation. 
Students  taking  this  subject  will  be  given  practical  first  hand 
experience  of  special  use  to  teachers;  (a)  in  connection  with  health 
examination,  inspection,  conference,  consultation,  and  follow  up  serv- 
ice carried  on  in  the  departmental  examining  room;  and  (b)  in 
connection  with  the  sanitary  supervision  carried  on  by  the  depart- 
ment. 

Prerequisites  or  Co-requisites:  Hygiene  32,  41  and  48.  Spring 
term,  six  hours  a  week  in  two  periods  of  three  hours  each; 
counts  2. 

Division  of  Physiology 

32.  Elements  of  Physiology. 

This  subject  deals  with  the  general  concepts  of  the  science  of 
physiology,  the  chemical  and  physical  conditions  which  underlie 
and  determine  the  action  of  the  individual  organs,  and  the  integra- 
tive relationship  of  the  parts  of  the  body. 

One  lecture,  one  recitation  and  two  laboratory  hours  a  week; 
counts  3. 

33.  Special  Physiology. 

A  study  of  the  fundamental  facts  of  physiology  and  methods  of 
investigation.  The  aim  is  to  give  a  complete  study  of  certain  topics: 
the  phenomena  of  contraction,  conduction,  sense  perception  and  the 
various  mechanisms  of  general  metabolism.  Laboratory  work  is 
arranged  to  show  the  methods  of  physiologic  experimentation  and 
to  emphasize  the  necessity  of  using  care  and  accuracy  in  their  ap- 
plication. 

Spring  term,  two  lectures  and  three  laboratory  hours  a  week; 
counts  3. 

34.  Physiology  of  Nutrition. 

The  aim  of  this  subject  is  to  study  broadly  the  metabolism  of  the 
human  body.     In  the  development  of  this  plan  the  following  topics 


210  College  Teaching 

will  be  considered:  the  food  requirements  of  man.  the  nutritive 
history  of  the  physiologic  ingredients,  the  principles  of  dietetics 
and  their  application  to  daily  living. 

Fall    term,    two    lectures    and    three   laboratory    hours   a    week; 
counts  3. 

Division  of  Bacteriology 

41.  General  Bacteriology. 

Lectures,  recitations  and  laboratory  work  introducing  the  stu- 
dent to  the  technique  of  bacteriology  and  to  the  more  important 
facts  about  the  structure  and  function  of  bacteria.  Special  ap- 
plications of  bacteriology  to  agriculture  and  the  industries  are  dis- 
cussed, and  brief  references  are  made  to  the  activities  of  allied 
microbes,  the  yeasts  and  molds.  The  general  relations  of  bacteria 
to  disease  and  the  principles  of  immunity  and  its  control  are  in- 
cluded. 

One  lecture,  one  recitation  and  four  laboratory  hours  a  week; 
counts  3. 

42.  Bacteriology  of  Foods. 

This  includes  the  bacteriologic  examination  of  water,  sewage, 
air,  milk,  the  various  food  products  together  with  the  methods 
used  in  the  standardization  of  disinfectants,  a  detailed  study  of 
yeast  and  bacterial  fermentation  and  their  application  to  the  in- 
dustries.    Numerous  trips  to  industrial  plants  will  be  made. 

Prerequisite:  Hygiene  41. 

Fall  term,  one  lecture  and  six  laboratory  hours  a  week;  counts  3. 

43.  Bacteriology  of  Pathogenic  Micro-organisms. 

This  subject  is  devoted  to  the  laboratory  methods  of  biology 
as  applied  in  the  state  and  municipal  boards  of  health.  Practice 
will  be  given  in  the  methods  used  for  the  diagnosis  of  diphtheria, 
tuberculosis,  malaria,  rabies,  and  other  diseases  caused  by  micro- 
organisms, together  with  a  detailed  study  of  the  groups  to  which 
they  belong. 

Prerequisite:  Hygiene  41. 

Spring   term,   one   lecture    and   six    laboratory    hours   a   week; 
counts  3. 

44.  Potable  and  Industrial  Water. 

Very  few  industries  are  independent  of  a  water  supply.  No 
one  is  independent  of  the  source  of  his  drinking  water.  Water 
varies  in  its  usefulness  for  definite  purposes. 

This  subject  differentiates  between  various  waters,  takes  them 
up  from  industrial  and  hygienic  standpoints,  considers  spftening, 
filtering,  purifying  and  water  analysis. 


Physical  Education  211 

Work  is  divided  into  three  groups. 

A.  Industrial    Water  )  given   in   the   Chemistry   Depart- 

B.  Potable    Water  )       ment, 

C     Water  Bacteriology  /  given     in     the     Department     of 

(microscopy    of    water*  )       Hygiene. 
Municipal  students  may  elect  any  or  all  of  the  three  groups. 
Prerequisite:     Chemistry   4   and    Hygiene   41.     Chemistry   9    is 
desirable. 
Spring  term,  seven  hours  a  week;  counts  3. 

48.  Municipal  Sanitation. 

Lectures,  discussions  and  visits  to  public  works  of  special  im- 
portance. The  principles  which  underlie  a  pure  water  supply  and 
the  means  by  which  the  wastes  of  the  city,  its  sewage  and  garbage 
may  be  successfully  disposed  of,  and  the  problems  of  pure  milk 
and  pure  food  supplies,  the  housing  question  with  its  special  phase 
of  ventilation  and  plumbing,  and  the  methods  by  which  a  muni- 
cipal board  of  health  is  organized  to  fight  tuberculosis  and  other 
specific  diseases  will  be  studied. 

Fall  term,  two  lectures  and  one  field  trip  a  week;  counts  3. 

49.  Municipal  Sanitary  Inspection. 

Professor  B and  Bureau  of  Foods  and  Drugs,  New 

York  City  Department  of  Health. 
The  seminar  work  of  this  subject  is  done  in  the  College  and 
the  field  work  in  company  with  and  under  the  direct  supervision 
of  an  Inspector  of  the  Department  of  Health  of  the  City.  The 
subject  is  limited  to  six  students  each  semester,  and  is  intended 
for  those  planning  to  go  into  this  branch  of  the  City's  service. 
The  qualifications  will  be  based  upon  individuality,  personality 
playing  an  important  part. 

Prerequisite:  Hygiene  41  and  48  and  Chemistry  19. 
Spring    term,    two    seminar    hours,    one    recitation    and   one    in- 
spection tour  a  week;  counts  3. 

50.  Research. 

Seniors  who  have  completed  satisfactorily  a  sufficient  amount 
of  work  in  the  Department  may  be  assigned  some  topic  to  serve 
as  a  basis  for  a  thesis  which  will  be  submitted  as  credit  for  the 
work  at  its  completion.  The  student  will  receive  the  advice  of 
the  instructor  in  the  subject  in  which  the  research  falls,  but  as 
much  independent  work  as  possible  will  be  insisted  upon.  The 
purpose  is  to  introduce  the  student  into  research  methods,  and 
also  to  foster  independence. 


212  College  Teaching 


Division  of  Health  Examination 

I.     Individual  Instruction  in  Hygiene. 

This  instruction  is  of  a  personal  confidential  character,  and 
is  given  in  the  form  of  advice  based  upon  medical  history  sup- 
plied by  the  individual,  and  upon  medical  and  hygienic  examina- 
tions and  inspections  of  the  individual. 

(a)  Medical  and  hygienic  history  and  examination. 

In  this  relationship  with  the  student  the  Department  attempts 
to  secure  such  information  concerning  environmental  and  habit 
influences  in  the  life  of  the  student  as  may  be  used  as  a  basis  for 
supplying  him  with  helpful  advice  concerning  the  organization 
of  his  policy  of  personal  health  control.  The  medical  examina- 
tions are  utilized  for  the  purpose  of  finding  remediable  physical 
defects  whose  proper  treatment  may  be  added  to  the  physiological  ef- 
ficiency and  therefore  to  the  health  possibilities  of  the  student. 
Prescribed:  freshman,  sophomore,  junior,  senior  and  special  stu- 
dents.    Once  each  term.    No  credits. 

(b)  Hygiene  inspections. 

These  inspections  are  applied  in  the  mutual  interest  of  personal, 
departmental  and  institutional  hygiene. 
Prescribed:  freshman  and  sophomore. 

(c)  Conferences. 

All  students  who  have  been  given  personal  hygienic  or  med- 
ical advice  are  required  to  report  in  conference  by  appointment 
in  order  that  the  advice  may  be  followed  up. 

All  individuals  found  with  communicable  diseases  are  debarred 
from  all  classes  until  it  is  shown  in  conference  that  they  are  re- 
ceiving proper  medical  treatment,  and  that  they  may  return  to  class 
attendance  with  safety  to  their  comrades. 

All  individuals  found  with  remediable  physical  or  hygienic  de- 
fects are  required  to  report  in  conference  with  evidence  that  the 
abnormal  condition  has  been  brought  to  the  serious  attention  of  the 
parent,  guardian  or  family  medical  or  hygienic  adviser.  Students 
failing  to  report  as  directed  may  be  denied  admission  to  all  classes. 

n.    Medical  and  Sanitary  Supervision. 

(a)  Sanitary  supervision. 

An  "  Advisory  Committee  on  Hygiene  and  Sanitation "  with 
the  Professor  of  Hygiene  as  Chairman,  has  been  appointed  by  the 
President.  This  committee  has  been  instructed  to  "  inquire  from 
time  to  time  into  all  our  institutional  influences  which  are  likely 
to  affect  the  health  of  the  student  and  instructor,  and  to  make 
such  reports  with  recommendations  to  the  President  as  may  seem 
wise  and  expedient." 

(b)  A    medical    examination    is    required    of    all    applicants    for 


Physical  Education  213 

admission  to  the  College.  Approval  of  the  Medical  Examiner  must 
be  secured  before  registration  is  permitted. 

(c)      Medical   consultation. 

Open  to  all  students.     (Optional.) 

((/)      Medical  examination  of  Athletes. 

Required  of  all  students  before  admission  to  athletic  training 
and  repeated  at  intervals  during  the  training  season. 

(e)     Treatment. 

Elmergency  treatment  is  the  only  treatment  attempted  by  the 
Department.  Such  treatment  will  be  applied  only  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  the  individual  until  he  can  secure  the  services  he 
selects  for  that  purpose. 

(/)     Conferences. 

(See  "  c"  under  I.) 

ig)  Laboratory:  The  Department  Laboratories  are  equipped 
for  bacteriological  and  other  analyses.  The  water  in  the  swim- 
ming pool  is  examined  daily.  The  laboratory  service  is  utilized  to 
identify  disease  carriers,  and  in  every  other  reasonable  way  to 
assist  in  the  protection  of  student  health. 

Division  of  Recreational  Instruction 

Liberal  provision  is  made  by  the  College  for  voluntary  recre- 
tional  activities  indoors  and  outdoors  during  six  days  of  the 
week  and  throughout  vacation  periods.  Emphasis  is  laid  on  recre- 
ation as  a  health  habit  and  a  means  of  social  training. 

Division  of  Athletics 

( 1 »     Athletic  Supervision. 
Three  organizations  are  concerned: 

(a)  The  Faculty  Athletic  Committee,  which  has  to  do  with 
all  athletic  activities  that  involve  academic  relationships. 

(b)  The  Athletic  Council,  a  committee  of  the  Department  of 
Hygiene,  charged  with  the  supervision  of  all  business  activities 
connected   with   student   athletic   enterprises. 

(c)  The  Athletic  Association  of  the  Student  Body. 

(2)     Athletic  Instruction. 

The  Department  utilizes  various  intramural  and  extramural 
athletic  activities  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  further  influence 
on  the  promotion  of  health  habits,  the  development  of  physical 
power,  and  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  high  stand- 
ards of  sportsmanly  conduct  on  part  of  the  individual  and  the 
group. 

At    present    the    schedule    includes    the    following    sports:    base- 


214  College  Teaching 

ball,  basket  ball,  track  and  field,  swimming  and  water  polo,  tennis, 
soccer  foot  ball,  and  hand  ball. 

Thomas  Andrew  Storey,  M.D. 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York 

[It  was  hoped  that  it  would  be  possible  to  include  with  Professor 
Storey's  chapter  a  number  of  forms  and  photographs  calculated  to 
serve  as  aids  in  the  organization  and  conduct  of  a  College  Depart- 
ment of  Hygiene.  As  Professor  Storey's  work  is  very  distinctive, 
other  institutions  which  are  striving  to  organize  effective  depart- 
ments of  physical  education  would  have  found  his  experiences  as 
graphically  depicted  in  these  photographs  and  summed  up  in  these 
charts  extremely  helpful.  Unfortunately  it  has  proved  impossible 
to  print  them  here  on  account  of  limitations  of  space,  but  all  who 
are  interested  in  securing  further  information  can  obtain  these  val- 
uable guides  in  the  introductory  stages  of  the  inauguration  of  a 
Department  of  Hygiene  by  applying  to  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York.    Editor.] 


PART  THREE 
The  Social  Sciences 

CHAPTER 

X    The  Teaching  of  Economics 

Frank  A.  Fetter 

XI    The  Teaching  of  Sociology 

A.  J.  Todd 

XII  The  Teaching  of  History 

A.  American  History 

H.  W.  Elson 

B.  Modern  European  History 

Edward  Krehbiel 

XIII  The  Teaching  of  Poutical  Science 

Charles   Grove  Haines 

XIV  The  Teaching  of  Philosophy 

Frank  Thilly 

XY    The  Teaching  of  Ethics 

Henry  Neumann 

XVI    The  Teaching  of  Psychology 

Robert  S.    Woodworth 

XVII    The  Teaching  of  Education 

A.  Teaching  the  History  of  Education 

Herman  H.  Horne 

B.  Teaching  Educational  Theory 

Frederick  E.  Bolton 


THE  TEACHING  OF  ECONOMICS 

EVEN  though  economics  be  so  defined  as  to  exclude  a  ^J"j^g°°, 
large  part  of  the  field  of  the  social  sciences,  its  scope  economics 
is  still  very  broad.  Economics  is  less  homogeneous  in  its 
content,  is  far  less  clearly  defined,  than  is  any  one  of  the 
natural  sciences.  A  very  general  definition  of  economics 
is:  The  study  of  men  engaged  in  making  a  living.  More 
fully  expressed,  economics  is  a  study  of  men  exercising 
their  own  powers  and  making  use  of  their  environment 
for  the  purposes  of  existence,  of  welfare,  and  of  enjoyment. 
Within  such  a  broad  definition  of  economics  is  found  room 
for  various  narrower  conceptions.  To  mention  only  the 
more  important  of  these  we  may  distinguish  individual  t. 
economics,  domestic  economics,  business  economics,  gov- 
ernmental economics  (public  finance),  and  political  (or 
national)  economics.  Any  one  of  these  subjects  may  be 
approached  and  treated  primarily  either  with  regard  to  its 
more  immediate  financial,  material,  acquisitive  aspects,  or 
to  its  more  far-reaching  social,  psychical,  and  welfare  as- 
pects. These  various  ideas  appear  and  reappear  most  con- 
fusingly in  economic  literature.  « 

Tlie  aims  that  different  students  and  teachers  have  in  the 
pursuit  of  economics  are  as  varied  as  are  the  conceptions 
of  its  nature.  The  teaching  aims  are,  indeed,  largely  de- 
termined by  those  conceptions.  Moreover,  the  teaching 
aims  are  modified  by  still  other  conditions,  such  as  the 
environment  of  the  college  and  its  constituency,  and  such 
as  the  temperament,  business  experience,  and  scholarly 
training  of  the  teacher.  We  may  distinguish  broadly 
three  aims:  the  vocational,  the  civic,  and  the  cultural.  ^ 

The  vocational  aim  is  the  most  elementary  and  most 
usual.  Xenophon's  treatise  on  domestic  "  economy  "  was 
the  nucleus  from  which  have  grown  all  the  systematic 
formulations  of  economic  principles.     Vocational  econom- 

217 


218  College  Teaching 

ics  is  the  economics  of  the  craftsman  and  of  the  shop. 
Every  practical  craft  and  art  has  its  economic  aspect, 
which  concerns  the  right  and  best  use  of  labor  and 
valuable  materials  to  attain  a  certain  artistic,  mechani- 
cal, or  other  technical  end  in  its  particular  field. 
Economics  is  not  mere  technology,  which  has  to 
do  with  the  mastery  of  materials  and  forces  to  at- 
tain any  material  end.  Vocational  economics,  however, 
modifies  and  determines  technical  practice,  which,  in  the 
last  analysis,  is  subject  to  the  economic  rule.  The  economic 
engineer  should  construct  not  the  best  bridge  that  is  pos- 
sible, mechanically  considered,  but  the  best  possible  or 
advisable  for  the  purpose  and  with  the  means  at  hand. 
The  economic  agriculturist  should  not  produce  the  largest 
crop  possible,  but  the  crop  that  gives  the  largest  addi- 
tional value.  The  rapidly  growing  recognition  of  the  im- 
portance, in  all  technical  training,  of  cultivating  the  ability 
to  take  the  economic  view  has  led  to  the  development  of 
household  economics  in  connection  with  the  teaching  of 
cooking,  sewing,  decorating,  etc.;  of  the  economics  of  farm 
management  to  supplement  the  older  technical  courses  in 
natural  science,  crops,  and  animal  husbandry;  of  the 
economics  of  factory  management  in  connection  with 
mechanical  engineering;  of  the  economics  of  railway  loca- 
tion in  connection  with  certain  phases  of  civil  engineer- 
ing; and  many  more  such  special  groupings  and  formula- 
tions of  economic  principles  with  reference  to  particular 
vocations  and  industries. 

The  ancient  and  the  medieval  crafts  and  mysteries  un- 
doubtedly had  embodied  in  their  maxims,  proverbs,  tradi- 
tional methods,  and  teachings,  many  economic  principles 
suitable  to  their  comparatively  simple  and  unchanging  con- 
ditions. The  rapid  changes  that  have  occurred,  especially 
in  the  last  half  century,  in  the  natural  sciences  and  in 
the  practical  arts  have  rendered  useless  much  of  this 
wisdom  of  the  fathers.  Recently  there  has  been  a  belated 
and  sudden  awakening  to  the  need  of  studying,  consciously 
and    systematically,    the    economic    aspects    of    the    new 


The  Teaching  of  Economics  219 

dynamic  forces  and  industrial  conditions.  Hence  the  al-  X. 
most  dramatic  appearance  of  vocational,  or  technical, 
economics  under  such  names  as  "  scientific  management  " 
and  the  "  economics  of  engineering."  Viewed  in  this  per- 
spective such  a  development  appears  to  be  commendable 
and  valuable  in  its  main  purpose.  Unfortunately,  some, 
if  not  all,  of  the  adherents  of  this  new  cult  of  "  economy  " 
and  "  efiBciency  "  fail  to  appreciate  how  very  restricted  and 
special  it  is,  compared  with  the  whole  broad  economic  ^ 
field. 

The  civic  aim  in  teaching  economics  is  to  fit  the  student 
to  perform  the  duties  of  a  citizen.  We  need  not  attempt 
to  prove  here  that  a  large  proportion  of  public  questions 
are  economic  in  nature,  and  that  in  a  democracy  a  wise 
decision  on  these  questions  ultimately  depends  on  an  in- 
telligent public  opinion  and  not  merely  on  the  knowledge 
possessed  by  a  small  group  of  specialists. 

The  civic  conception  of  economics,  seen  from  one  point 
of  view,  shows  little  in  common  with  the  vocational  con- 
ception. Yet  from  another  point  of  view  it  may  be  looked 
upon  as  the  vocational  conception  "  writ  large "  and  is 
the  art  of  training  men  to  be  citizens  in  a  republic.  Good 
citizenship  involves  an  attitude  of  interest,  a  capacity  to 
form  judgments  on  public  economic  issues,  and,  if  need 
be,  to  perform  efficiently  public  functions  of  a  legislative, 
executive  or  judicial  nature.  The  state-supported  colleges 
usually  now  recognize  very  directly  their  obligation  to  pro- 
vide economic  training  with  the  civic  aim,  and,  in  some 
cases,  even  to  require  it  as  a  part  of  the  work  for  a  college 
degree.  Often  also  is  found  the  thought  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  student  while  obtaining  an  education  at  public 
expense,  to  take  a  minimum  of  economics  with  the  civic 
aim  even  if  he  regards  it  as  in  no  way  to  his  individual 
advantage  or  if  it  has  in  his  case  no  direct  vocational  bear- 
ings. In  the  privately  endowed  institutions  this  policy  may 
be  less  clearly  formulated,  but  it  is  hardly  less  actively 
practiced.  Indeed,  the  privately  endowed  institutions  have 
been  recognizing  more  and  more  fully  their  fiduciary  and 


220 


College  Teaching 


Evaluations 
of  aims  of 
teaching 
economics 
in    college 


public  nature.  Their  public  character  is  involved  in  their 
charters,  in  their  endowments,  in  their  exemption  from 
taxation,  and  in  their  essential  educational  functions.  The 
proudest  pages  in  their  history  are  those  recording  their 
services  to  the  state.  ^ 

The  cultural  aim  in  economics  is  to  enable  the  student 
to  comprehend  the  industrial  world  about  him.  It  aims 
to  liberate  the  mind  from  ignorance  and  prejudice,  giving 
him  insight  into,  and  appreciation  of,  the  industrial  world 
in  which  he  lives.  In  this  aspect  it  is  a  liberal  study. 
Economics  produces  in  some  measure  this  cultural  re- 
sult, even  when  it  is  studied  primarily  with  the  vocational 
or  with  the  civic  aim.  But  in  vocational  economics  the 
choice  of  materials  and  the  mode  of  treatment  are  deliber- 
ately restricted  by  the  immediate  utilitarian  purposes;  and 
in  economic  teaching  with  a  civic  purpose  there  is  the  con- 
tinual temptation  to  arouse  the  sympathies  for  an  im- 
mediate social  program  and  to  take  a  view  limited  by  the 
contemporary  popular  interest  in  specific  proposals  for  re- 
form. Economics  at  its  highest  level  is  the  search  for  truth. 
It  has  its  place  in  any  system  of  higher  education  as  has 
pure  natural  science,  apart  from  any  immediate  or,  so  far 
as  we  may  know,  any  possible,  utilitarian  application.  It 
is  a  disinterested  philosophy  of  the  industrial  world. 
Though  it  may  not  demonstrably  be  a  means  to  other  use- 
ful things,  it  is  itself  a  worthy  end.  It  helps  to  enrich  the 
community  with  the  immaterial  goods  of  the  spirit,  and  it 
yields  the  psychic  income  of  dignity  and  joy  in  the  in- 
dividual and  national  life.  And  as  a  final  appeal  to  any 
doubting  Philistine  it  may  be  said  that  just  as  the  cult 
of  pure  science  is  necessary  to  the  continual  and  most  ef- 
fective progress  in  the  practical  arts,  so  the  study  of 
economics  on  the  philosophical  plane  surely  is  necessary  to 
the  highest  and  most  lasting  results  in  the  application  of 
economics  to  the  arts  and  to  civic  life. 

V  ^  See  article  by  Charles  E.  Persons,  on  Teaching  the  Introductory 
G)ur8e  in  Economics,  in  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics  Vol. 
XXXI,  November,  1916,  for  a  strong  presentation  of  this  civic 
ideal  in  economic  study. 


Place  of 
economics 


TJie  Teaching  of  Economics  221 

The  differences  in  aims  set  forth  in  this  paragraph  re- 
sult in  much  of  the  futile  discussion  in  recent  years  re- 
garding methods  of  teaching.  Enthusiastic  innovators  have 
debated  at  cross  purposes  about  teaching  methods  as  if 
they  were  to  be  measured  by  some  absolute  standard  of 
pedagogic  values,  not  recognizing  that  the  chief  differences 
of  views  as  to  teaching  methods  were  rooted  in  the  differing 
aims.  This  truth  will  reappear  at  many  points  in  the  fol- 
lowing discussion.  "  What  will  you  have,"  quoth  the  Gods, 
"  pay  the  price  and  take  it." 

The  place  assigned  to  economics  in  the  college  curriculum 
in  respect  to  the  year  in  which  the  student  is  admitted  to   in  the 
its  study  is  very  different  in  various  colleges.     In  the  last  curricaium 
investigation    of    the    subject    it    appeared    that    the    first 
economics  course  might  be  taken  first 

in  the  freshman  year  in  14  per  cent  of  cases, 

in  the  sophomore  year  in  31  per  cent  of  cases, 

in  the  junior  year  in  42  per  cent  of  cases, 

in  the  senior  year  in  13  per  cent  of  cases.^ 
Among  those  institutions  giving  an  economic  course  in  the 
freshman  year  are  some  small  and  some  large  institu- 
tions (some  of  the  latter  being  Stanford,  New  York  Uni- 
versity, Pennsylvania,  Bryn  Mawr,  and  the  state  universi- 
ties of  California,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  North  Dakota,  Colorado, 
Utah).  Frequently  the  elementary  course  given  to  fresh- 
men is  in  matter  and  method  historical  and  descriptive, 
rather  than  theoretical,  and  is  planned  to  precede  a  more 
rigid  course  in  the  principles.^ 

The  plan  of  beginning  economics  in  the  sophomore  year 
is  the  mode  among  the  state  universities  and  larger  colleges, 
including  nearly  all  of  the  larger  institutions  that  do  not 
begin  the  subject  in  the  freshman  year.  This  group  in- 
cludes   Yale,     Hopkins,     Chicago,     Northwestern,    Mount 

^  Qjmpiled  by  the  writer  from  data  in  the  report  of  the  committee 
appointed  by  the  conference  on  the  teaching  of  elementary  econom- 
ics, 1909;  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  November,  1911,  Vol.  19, 
pages  760  789. 

2  See  page  767  of  the  committee  report  cited  above. 


222  College  Teaching 

Holyoke,   Wellesley,   Vassar,  and    (after  1919)    Princeton. 

The  group  of  institutions  beginning  economics  in  the 
junior  year  is  the  largest,  but  consists  mostly  of  small  col- 
leges having  some  advanced  economics  courses,  but  no  more 
than  can  be  given  in  the  senior  year.  It  contains,  besides, 
a  few  colleges  of  arts  which  maintain  a  more  strictly  pre- 
scribed curriculum  for  underclassmen  (freshmen  and 
sophomores),  such  as  Dartmouth,  Columbia,  Smith,  and 
Simmons.  It  should  be  observed  also  that  in  a  great  many 
institutions  where  economics  may  be  taken  by  some  students 
in  the  first  two  years,  it  is  in  fact  scheduled  as  late  as 
junior  or  senior  year  in  the  prescribed  courses  of  students 
in  special  departments  such  as  agriculture,  engineering, 
and  law.  This  statement  applies  doubtless  to  many 
thousands  of  technical  students.^ 

In  view  of  these  divergencies  in  practice  we  must  hesi- 
tate to  declare  that  the  subject  should  be  begun  at  pre- 
cisely this  or  that  point  in  the  college  course.  These 
differences,  to  be  sure,  are  in  many  cases  the  result  of 
accidental  factors  in  the  college  curriculum,  and  often 
have  been  determined  by  illogical  departmental  rivalries 
within  the  faculty  rather  than  by  wise  and  disinterested 
educators  studying  the  merits  of  the  case.  But  in  large  part 
these  differences  are  the  expression  of  different  purposes 
and  practical  needs  in  planning  a  college  curriculum,  and 
are  neither  quite  indefensible  nor  necessarily  contradictory 
in  pedagogic  theory.  In  the  small  college  with  a  nearly 
uniform  curriculum  and  with  limited  means,  a  general 
course  is  perhaps  best  planned  for  the  senior  year,  or  in 
the  junior  year   if  there  is   an   opportunity   given   to   the 

^  Evidently  it  is  not  possible  to  draw  from  these  data  any  definite 
conclusions  as  to  the  proportion  of  students  beginning  economics 
in  each  of  the  four  years  respectively.  But  probably  three-fourths 
of  all,  possibly  four  fifths,  take  the  general  course  either  in  the 
sophomore  or  the  junior  year.  Most  of  the  institutions  giving  eco- 
nomics only  in  the  senior  year  are  small,  with  a  very  restricted 
curriculum,  often  limited  to  one  general  course.  But  it  is  a  widely 
observed  fact  that  many  students  in  large  institutions  postpone  the 
election  of  the  subject  till  their  senior  year. 


The  Teaching  of  Econoviics  228 

student  to  do  some  more  advanced  work  the  year  follow- 
ing. At  the  other  extreme  are  some  larger  institutions 
in  which  the  pressure  of  new  subjects  within  the  arts 
curriculum  has  shattered  the  fixed  curriculum  into  frag- 
ments. This  has  made  possible  specialization  along  any 
one  of  a  number  of  lines.  Where  this  idea  is  carried  out 
to  the  full,  every  general  group  of  subjects  eventually  must 
make  good  its  claim  to  a  place  in  the  freshman  year  for 
its  fundamental  course.  But  inasmuch  as,  in  most  institu- 
tions, the  freshman  year  is  still  withheld  from  this  free 
elective  plan  by  the  requirement  of  a  small  group  of  gen- 
eral subjects,  economics  is  first  open  to  students  in  the 
sophomore  year.  The  license  of  the  elective  system  is  of 
course  much  moderated  by  the  requirement  to  elect  a  de- 
partment, usually  at  the  beginning  either  of  the  sophomore 
or  of  the  junior  year,  and  within  each  department  both 
a  more  or  less  definite  sequence  of  courses  and  a  group 
of  collateral  requirements  are  usually  enforced.  Where  re- 
sources are  very  limited  it  is  probably  best  to  give  the 
economics  course  in  the  last  two  years,  but  where  sev- 
eral more  specialized  courses  in  economics  are  given,  it 
should  be  introduced  as  early  as  the  sophomore  year.  If 
a  freshman  course  in  the  subject  is  given  it  should  be 
historical,  descriptive,  or  methodical  (e,  g.,  statistical 
methods,  graphics,  etc.)  rather  than  theoretical.  The  ex- 
perience (or  lack  of  experience)  and  knowledge  of  the  in- 
dustrial world,  past  and  present,  possessed  by  the  average 
American  college  student  is  such  that  courses  of  that  kind 
meet  a  great  need.^ 

Teachers  of  economics  today  are  doubtless  attempting  the   "^^^^  ^  *• 
impossible  in  compressing  the  present  "  general   course "  fcoiwmics 

into  three  hours  for  two  semesters.     No  other  department   ,^*'^°L. 
...  r  lege  carrlca- 

ot  a  university  attempts  to  treat  in  such  a  brief  time  so   lum 
broad  a  subject,  including  both  principles  and  applications. 
Such  a  course  was  quite  long  enough  in  the  days  when  all 
economic  instruction  was  given  by  gray-haired  theologians, 

*  Of  this  see  further  below,  page  226. 


224  College  Teaching 

philosophers,  mathematicians,  and  linguists,  dogmatically 
expounding  the  pons  asinorum  of  economics,  and  quiz- 
zing from  a  dusty  textbook  of  foreign  authorship.  But  now 
the  growing  and  vigorous  tribe  of  specialized  economic 
teachers  is  bursting  with  information  and  illustrations. 
Moreover,  the  range  of  economic  topics  and  of  economic 
interests  has  expanded  wonderfully. 

The  resulting  overcrowded  condition  of  the  general  course 
is  possibly  the  main  cause  of  the  difficulties  increasingly 
felt  by  teachers  in  handling  that  course  satisfactorily.  As 
a  part  of  a  general  college  curriculum  "  general  economics  " 
cannot  be  satisfactorily  treated  in  less  than  three  hours  a 
week  for  two  years.  The  additional  time  should  not  be 
spent  in  narrow  specialization  but  rather  in  getting  a 
broader  understanding  of  the  subject  through  economic 
history  and  geography,  through  observation  and  descrip- 
tion of  actual  conditions,  through  a  greater  use  of  prob- 
lems and  examples,  and  through  more  detailed,  less  super- 
ficial study  of  the  fundamental  principles.  As  a  part  of 
sixteen  y6ars  of  the  whole  educational  scheme  from  primary 
grade  to  college  diploma  such  a  course  would  claim  but 
2y2  per  cent  of  the  student's  whole  time,  while  the  sub- 
jects of  English,  mathematics,  and  foreign  linguistics  each 
gets  about  20  per  cent,  in  the  case  even  of  students  who 
do  not  specialize  in  one  of  these  branches. 

Of  the  replies  ^  from  nearly  three  hundred  colleges  to 
the  question  whether  economics  was  required  for  gradua- 
tion, about  55  per  cent  were  in  the  affirmative.  Unfor- 
tunately the  question  was  ambiguous,  and  the  replies  ap- 
parently were  understood  to  mean  generally  that  it  was 
required  in  one  or  more  curricula,  not  of  all  graduates 
(though  in  some  cases  the  question  was  probably  taken 
in  the  other  sense).  It  is  noteworthy  that  more  frequently 
economics  is  required  in  the  smaller  colleges  having  but  one 
curriculum,  that  of  liberal  studies.  In  the  larger  institu- 
tions economics  is  usually  not  required  of  students  in  the 
humanities,  although  of  late  it  has  increasingly  been  made 

^  Article  cited,  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  Vol.  19,  ,page  768. 


The  Teaching  of  Economics  225 

a  part  of  the  technical  college  curricula,  especially  in 
engineering  and  agriculture.^  So  we  are  in  a  fair  way  to 
arrive  at  the  situation  where  no  student  except  in  those 
"  liberal  "  arts  courses  can  get  a  college  diploma  without 
studying  economics;  only  in  a  modem  course  in  the 
humanities  may  the  study  of  human  society  be  left  out. 

The  economists  have  not  been  active  in  urging  their  sub- 
ject as  a  requirement.  The  call  for  increasing  require- 
ments in  economics  has  come  from  the  public  and  from  the 
alumni.  The  steady  increase  in  the  number  of  students 
electing  economic  courses  without  corresponding  additions 
to  the  teaching  forces  has  made  the  overworked  professors 
of  the  subject  thankful  when  nothing  more  was  done  to 
increase  by  faculty  requirements  the  burden  of  their  class 
work.  It  is  charged  and  it  is  admitted  in  some  institutions 
that  the  standards  of  marking  are  purposely  made  more 
severe  in  the  economics  courses  than  in  courses  in  most 
other  subjects.  The  purpose  avowed  is  "  to  cut  out  the  dead 
timber,"  so  that  only  the  better  students  will  be  eligible  for 
enrollment  in  the  advanced  economics  courses.  An  un- 
fortunate result  is  to  discourage  some  excellent  students, 
ambitious  for  high  marks  or  honors,  from  electing  courses 
in  economics  because  thereby  their  average  grades  would 
be  reduced.  In  many  cases,  for  this  reason,  good  students 
take  the  subject  optionally  (without  credit),  though  doing 
full  work  in  it. 

We  have  already,  in  discussing  the  place  of  economics,    Organiza- 

•I      .        u    J  1  °      .        .  r     ^  tlonofthe 

necessarily  touched  upon  the  organization  ol  the  courses,   subject  in 

In   most   colleges   this   organization   is   very   simple.     The   currT^f*'* 

whole    economic    curriculum    consists    of    the    "  general " 

course,  or  at  most  of  ihat  plus  one  or  more  somewhat 

specialized  courses  given  the  next  year.     The  most  usual 

year  of  advanced  work  consists  of  one  semester  each  of 

money   and   banking  and   of  public    finance.     A   not    un- 

^  The  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education  has  had 
a  standing  committee  on  economics,  since  1915.  The  first  commit- 
tee was  composed  of  three  engineers  (all  of  them  consulting  and 
in  practice  and  two  of  them  also  teachers)   and  the  present  writer. 


226  College  Teaching 

usual  plan,  well  suited  to  the  situation  in  a  small  college 
where  economics  takes  the  full  time  of  one  teacher,  is  to 
give  the  general  course  in  the  sophomore  year,  and  to 
offer  a  two-year  cycle  of  advanced  work,  the  two  courses 
being  given  in  alternate  years,  the  class  consisting  of 
juniors  and  seniors.  In  this  plan  the  additional  courses 
may  be  in  transportation,  in  labor  problems,  in  trusts  and 
corporations,  and  frequently  of  late,  in  accounting. 
Ordinarily  the  "  general  "  course  itself  involves  a  logical 
sequence,  the  first  term  dealing  with  fundamental  con- 
cepts and  theories,  and  the  second  term  covering  in  a  rapid 
survey  a  pretty  wide  range  of  special  problems.  The 
majority  of  the  students  take  only  the  general  course. 
Those  who  go  on  to  more  advanced  courses  retrace  the 
next  year  some  of  the  ground  of  the  second  semester's  work, 
but  this  is  probably  for  few  of  them  a  loss  of  time.  In- 
deed, in  such  a  subject  as  economics  this  opportunity  to 
let  first  teachings  "  sink  in,"  and  strange  concepts  become 
familiar,  is  for  most  students  of  great  value.  Yet  the  plan 
was  adopted  and  is  followed  as  a  compromise,  using  one 
course  as  a  ready-made  fit  for  the  differing  needs  of  two 
groups  of  students.  We  have  seen  above  (page  221)  that 
preceding  the  general,  or  systematic,  course,  there  is  in  a 
number  of  colleges  a  simpler  one.  In  some  cases  ^  the  ex- 
periment has  been  undertaken  of  studying  first  for  a  time 
certain  broad  institutional  features  of  our  existing  society, 
such  as  property,  the  wage  system,  competition,  and  the 
amount  and  distribution  of  wealth.  The  need  of  such  a 
course  is  said  to  be  especially  great  in  the  women's  col- 
leges. If  so,  it  is  truly  urgent,  for  most  young  men  come 
to  college  with  very  meager  experience  in  economic  lines. 
>Few,  if  any,  teachers  would  deny  that  such  an  introductory 

^  In  Amherst,  as  described  in  Journal  of  Political  Economy  by  Pro- 
fessor W.  H.  Hamilton,  on  "The  Amherst  Program  in  Economics"; 
and  in  Chicago  University  beginning  in  1916.  See  also,  by  the 
same  writer,  a  paper  on  "  The  Institutional  Approach  to  Economic 
Theory,"  in  the  American  Economic  Review,  Supplement,  page  309, 
March,  1919, 


The  Teaching  of  Economics  227 

course  preceding  the  principles  is  distinctly  of  advantage.^ 
Some  would  favor  it  even  at  the  price  of  shortening  ma- 
terially the  more  general  course.  But  most  teachers  would  " 
agree  that  together  the  introductory  course  and  the  general 
course  should  take  two  full  years  (three  hours  a  week, 
twelve  college  credit  hours,  as  usually  reckoned),  an" 
amount  of  time  which  cannot  be  given  by  the  "  floater  " 
electing  economics.  And  to  accommodate  both  those  who 
have  had  the  introductory  course  and  those  who  have  not, 
the  general  course  would  have  to  be  given  in  two  divisions 
and  in  two  ways.  Again  we  come  to  the  thought,  sug- 
gested above,  that  probably  we  are  attempting  too  much 
in  too  brief  a  time  in  the  general  course  today.  A  longer^ 
time  for  the  study  would  permit  of  a  sequence  that  would 
be  more  logically  defensible.  It  would  begin  with  histori- 
cal and  descriptive  studies,  both  because  they  are  funda- 
mentally necessary  and  because,  being  of  more  concrete 
nature,  they  may  be  given  in  a  form  easier  for  the  beginner 
to  get.  In  this  period  a  good  deal  of  the  terminology  can 
be  gradually  familiarized.  Then  should  come  the  more 
elementary  analytical  studies  and  fundamental  principles, 
followed  by  a  discussion  of  a  number  of  practical  prob- 
lems. In  conclusion  should  come  a  more  systematic  survey 
of  general  principles,  of  which  most  students  now  get  but 
a  superficial  idea.  The  work  in  the  specialized  elective 
courses  would  then  be  built  upon  much  firmer  foundations  / 
than  IS  the  case  at  present. 

The  main  methods  that  have  been  developed  and  tested   Methods  of 

.  teaching 

in  the  teaching  of  undergraduate  classes  in  economics  may 
be  designated  as  the  lecture  method,  the  textbook  method, 
the  problem  method.     Any  one  of  these  may  be  used  well- 

^  At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Economic  Association  in  1897,  at  "^ 
which  was  discussed  "  The  Relation  of  the  Teaching  of  Economic 
History  to  the  Teaching  of  Political  Economy,"  the  opinion  was 
expressed  by  one  teacher  that  economic  history  should  follow  the 
general  course.  But  all  the  others  agreed  that  such  a  course  should 
begin  the  sequence,  and  this  seems  to  be  the  almost  invariable  prac-  ^ 
tire.  See  Economic  Studies,  Volume  III.  pages  88  101,  Publica- 
tions of  the  American  Economic  Association,  1898. 


228  College  Teaching 

nigh  exclusively,  or,  as  is  more  usual,  two  or  more  may 
be  combined  in  varying  proportions;  e.g.,  lectures  with 
"  supplementary  "  (or  "  collateral  ")  readings,  with  or  with- 
out an  occasional  meeting  in  a  quiz  section.  /  Along  with 
these  main  methods  often  are  used  such  supplementary 
methods  as  topical  reports  requiring  individual  library 
work;  laboratory  exercises^  as  in  statistics,  accounting,  etc.; 
individual  field  work  to  study  some  industrial  problem; 
and  visits,  as  a  class,  and  with  guidance,  to  factories  and 
industrial  enterprises. 

The  choice  of  these  particular  methods  of  teaching  is, 
however,  largely  conditioned  by  the  teacher's  antecedent 
choice  between  the  deductive  or  the  inductive  forms  of 
presentation.  This  is  an  old  controversy  ever  recurring. 
But  it  should  be  observed  that  the  question  here  is  not 
whether  induction  or  deduction  is  a  greater  aid  in  arriv- 
ing at  new  truth,  but  it  is  whether  the  inductive  or  the 
deductive  process  is  the  better  for  the  imparting  of  in- 
struction to  beginner^  In  teaching  mathematics,  the  most 
deductive  of  the  sciences,  use  may  be  made  of  such  in- 
ductive aids  as  object  lessons,  physical  models,  and  practi- 
cal problems;  and  per  contra,  in  the  natural  sciences,  where 
induction  is  the  chief  instrument  of  research,  elementary 
instruction  is  largely  given  in  a  deductive  manner  by  the 
statement  of  general  propositions,  the  workings  of  which 
are  then  exemplified.  The  decision  of  the  question  which 
is  the  better  of  these  two  pedagogic  methods  in  a  particular 
case,  depends  (a)  partly  on  the  average  maturity  and  ex- 
perience of  the  class;  (b)  partly  on  the  mental  quality  of 
the  students;  and  (c)  partly  on  the  interest  and  qualifica- 
tions of  the  teacher. 

(a)  The  choice  of  the  best  method  of  teaching  is  of 
course  dependent  on  the  same  factors  that  have  been  shown 
above  to  affect  the  nature  and  sequence  of  the  courses. 
The  simpler  method  leading  to  more  limited  results  is  more 
suitable  for  the  less  mature  classes;  but  the  scientific  stage 
in  the  treatment  of  any  subject  is  not  reached  until  general 
principles  are  discussed.     If  one  is  content  with  a  vocational 


The  Teaching  of  Economics  229 

result  in  economic  teaching,  stopping  short  of  the  theoreti- 
cal, philosophic  outlook,  more  can  be  accomplished  in  a 
short  time  by  the  concrete  method.  But  such  teaching 
would  seem  to  belong  in  a  trade  school  rather  than  in  a 
college  of  higher  studies,  and  in  any  case  should  be  given 
by  a  vocational  teacher  rather  than  by  a  specialist  in  social, 
or  political,  economy.  , 

(6)  Every  college  class  presents  a  gradation  of  minds  Various 
capable  (whether  from  nature  or  training)  of  attaining  ^\ua1ed 
different  states  of  comprehension.  Of  students  in  the  lower 
half  of  the  classes  in  American  colleges,  it  may  be  said 
broadly  that  they  never  can  or  will  develop  the  capacity  of 
thinking  abstractly  and  that  the  concrete  method  of  teach- 
ing would  give  better  results  in  their  cases.  Therefore  the 
teacher  attempts  to  compromise,  to  adopt  a  method  that 
fits  the  "  mode,"  the  middle  third  of  the  class,  wasting  much 
of  the  time  of  the  brighter  (or  of  the  more  earnest) 
students,  and  letting  those  in  the  lowest  third  trail  along 
as  best  they  can.  This  difficulty  may  be  met  with  some 
success  where  there  are  several  sections  of  a  class  by 
grouping  the  men  in  accordance  with,  their  previous 
scholarship  records.  This  grouping  is  beneficial  alike  to 
those  lower  and  to  those  higher  than  the  average  in  scholar- 
ship. *" 

(c)  Quite  as  important  in  this  connection  as  this  sub- 
jective quality  of  the  students,  is  the  characteristic  quality 
of  the  teacher.  A  particular  teacher  will  succeed  better  or 
worse  with  any  particular  method  according  as  it  fits  his 
aim  and  is  in  accord  with  his  endowment  and  training. 
If  he  is  himself  of  the  "  hard-headed  "  unimaginative  or 
unphilosophic  type,  he  will  of  course  deem  effort  wasted 
that  goes  beyond  concrete  facts.  He  will  give  little  place  to 
the  larger  aspects  and  principles  of  "  political  "  economy, 
but  will  deal  exhaustively  with  the  details  of  commercial 
economy.  If  the  teacher  is  civic-minded  and  sympathetic, 
he  will  be  impelled  to  trace  economic  forces,  in  their  ac- 
tions and  interactions,  far  beyond  the  particular  enterprise, 
to  show  how  the  welfare  of  others  is  affected.     To  do  this 


230  College  Teaching 

rightly,  knowledge  of  the  conditions  must  be  combined 
with  a  deeper  theoretical  insight;  but  the  civic  aim  operates 
selectively  to  limit  the  choice  of  materials  and  analysis 
to  those  contemporary  issues  that  appeal  at  the  time  to 
4  '  the  textbook  writer,  to  the  teacher,  or  to  the  public.  Still 
different  is  the  case  of  the  teacher  who  finds  his  greatest 
joy  in  the  theoretical  aspects  of  economics,  possesses  a 
clean-cut  economic  philosophy  (even  though  it  may  not  be 
ultimate  truth),  and  has  faith  in  economics  as  a  disciplinary 
subject.  Such  a  teacher  will  (other  things  being  equal) 
have,  relatively,  his  greatest  success  with  the  students  of 
greatest  ability;  he  will  get  better  results  in  teaching  the 
"  principles "  than  in  teaching  historical  and  descriptive 
facts.  None  will  deny  that  this  type  of  education  has  an 
important  place.  Even  in  the  more  descriptive  courses  ap- 
peal should  be  made  to  the  higher  intellectual  qualities  of 
the  class,  leaving  a  lasting  disciplinary  result  rather  than 
a  memory  stored  with  merely  ephemeral  and  mostly  in- 
^     significant  information. 

>'         The  teacher  with  colorless  personality  and  without  in- 
terest   in,   and   knowledge   of,    the   world    of   reality,   will 
fail,  whatever  be  the  purpose  of  his  teaching.     The  higher 
the  teacher's  aim,  the  farther  may  he  fall  below  its  attain- 
ment.    A  college  teacher  whose  message  is  delivered   on 
the  mental   level   of  grammar  school   children  should,  of 
course,  score  a  pretty  high  percentage  of  success  in  giving 
a   passing   mark  to   sophomores,   juniors,   and   seniors   in 
^     American  colleges.     But  is  this  really  a  success,  or  is  it 
rather  not  evidence  of  a  failure  in  the  whole  school  curricu- 
lum, and  of  woful  waste  in  our  system  of  so-called  "  higher  " 
education?     Are    colleges    for    the    training    of    merely 
mediocre  minds? 
Aim  and  at-         These  questions  of  aim  and  of  attitude  are  more  funda- 
fundaimmtai    "cental  than  is  the  question  of  the  particular  device  of  in- 
than  method   struction  to  be  used,  as  lecture,  textbook,  etc.     Yet  the  latter 
Btraction        question  is  not  without  its  importance.     In  general  it  ap- 
pears that  practice  has  moved  and  still  moves  in  a  cycle. 
In  the  American  college  world  as  a  whole  each  particular 


The  Teaching  of  Economics  231 

college  repeats  some  or  all  of  the  typical  phases  with  the 
growth  of  its  economic  department. 

(1)  First  is  the  textbook,  with  recitations  in  small 
classes.  (2)  Next,  the  lecture  gradually  takes  a  larger 
place  as  the  classes  grow,  until,  supplemented  by  required 
readings,  it  becomes  the  main  tool  of  instruction,  this  be- 
ing the  cheapest  and  easiest  way  to  take  care  of  the  rapidly 
growing  enrollment.  (3)  Then,  when  this  proves  unsatis- 
factory, the  lectures  are  perhaps  cut  down  to  two  a  week, 
and  the  class  is  divided  into  quiz  sections  for  one  meeting 
a  week  under  assistants  or  instructors,  the  lecture  still  being 
the  main  center  of  the  scheme  of  teaching.  (4)  This  still 
being  unsatisfactory  (partly  because  it  lacks  oversight  of 
the  students'  daily  work,  and  partly  because  the  lecture 
is  unsuited  to  the  development  of  general  principles  that 
require  careful  and  repeated  study  for  their  mastery),  a 
textbook  is  made  the  basis  of  section  meetings,  held 
usually  twice  a  week,  and  the  lectures  are  reduced  to  one 
a  week,  given  to  the  combined  class,  and  so  changed  in 
character  as  to  be  merely  supplementary  to  the  class  work. 
The  lectures  are  given  either  in  close  connection  week  by 
week  with  the  class  work  or  bearing  only  a  general  rela- 
tion with  the  term's  work  as  a  whole.  This  may  be  deemed 
the  prevailing  mode  today  in  institutions  where  the  in- 
troductory course  has  a  large  enrollment.^  (5)  Another 
change  completes  the  cycle;  the  lecture  is  dropped  and  the 
class  is  divided,  each  section,  consisting  of  twenty  to  thirty 
students,  meeting  with  the  same  teacher  regularly  for  class 
work.  This  change  was  made  after  mature  consideration 
in  "the  College"  in  Columbia  University;  is  in  operation 
in  Chicago  University,  where  the  meetings  are  held  five 
times  a  week;  and  has  been  adopted  more  recently  still  in 
New  York  University.  There  have  been  for  years  evidences 
of  the  growing  desire  to  abolish  the  lecture  from  the  intro- 
ductory course  and  also  to   limit  its  use  in  some  of  the 

^  This  plan  has  at  various  times  been  followed  at  Stanford,  G)rnell, 
Harvard,  and  Princeton,  to  cite  only  a  few  of  the  numerous  ex- 
amples. 


a  textbook 


232  College  Teaching 

special  undergraduate  courses.  The  preceptorial  plan 
adopted  in  1905  by  Princeton  University  is  the  most  notable 
instance  of  the  latter  change.'  Even  in  graduate  teaching 
in  economics  there  has  been  a  growing  opinion  and  prac- 
tice favorable  to  the  "  working "  course  or  "  seminar " 
course  to  displace  lecture  courses.'-  Thus  the  lecture  seems 
likely  to  play  a  less  prominent  role,  especially  in  the  in- 
troductory courses,  but  it  is  not  likely  to  be  displaced  en- 
tirely in  the  scheme  of  instruction. 
Selection  of  Numerous  American  textbooks  on  political  economy 
(thirty,  it  is  said)  have  been  published  in  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century,  a  fact  which  has  now  and  then  been  deplored 
by  the  pessimistic  critic.^  Few  share  this  opinion,  how- 
ever. The  textbooks  have,  to  be  sure,  often  served,  not  to 
unfold  a  consistent  system  of  thought,  but  to  reveal 
the  lack  of  one.  But  they  have  afforded  to  the  teachers 
and  students,  in  a  period  of  developing  conceptions  on  the 
subjects,  a  wide  choice  of  treatment  of  the  principles  much 
more  exactly  worked  out  and  carefully  expressed  than  is 
possible  through  the  medium  of  lectures  as  recorded  in  the 
students'  hastily  written  notes. 

Questions,  exercises,  and  test  problems  are  widely  used 
as    supplementary     material     for     classroom    discussion.* 

1  In  this  plan  the  sections  are  small  (three  to  seven  students)  and 
the  preceptor  is  expected  to  give  much  time  to  the  personal  super- 
vision of  the  student's  reading,  reports,  and  general  scholarship. 
The  preceptorial  work  is  rated  at  more  than  half  of  the  entire  work 
of  the  term.  The  one  great  difficulty  of  the  preceptorial  system  is 
its  cost. 

2  A  strong  plea  is  made  for  the  "  retirement  of  the  lectures "  by 
C.  E.  Persons,  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  XXXI, 
"  Teaching  the  Introductory  Course  in  Economics,"  November,  1916, 
pages  96-98. 

3  Professor  J.  H.  Hollander,  American  Economic  Review,  Vol.  VI, 
No.  1,  Supplement  (March,  1916).  page  135.  See  dissenting  opin- 
ions in  the  discussion  that  followed. 

*  Professor  C.  E.  Persons  (art.  cited  page  86,  November,  1916)  gives 
the  titles  of  ten  separate  books  or  pamphlets  of  this  kind;  since 
which  date  have  appeared  the  author's  "  Manual  of  References  and 
Exercises,"  Parts  I  and  II,  to  accompany  Economic  Principles, 
1915,  and  Modern  Economic  Problems,  1916,  respectively. 


The  TeUching  of  Economics  233 

Separately  printed  collections  of  such  material  date  back 
at  least  to  W.  G.  Sumner's  Problems  in  Political  Economy 
(1884),  which  in  turn  acknowledged  indebtedness  to  other 
personal  sources  and  to  Milnes'  collection  of  two  thousand 
questions  and  problems  from  English  examination  papers. 
With  somewhat  varying  aims,  further  commented  upon  be- 
low, and  in  varying  degrees,  all  teachers  of  economics 
now  make  use  of  such  questions  in  their  teaching  of  both 
general  and  special  courses.  Unquestionably  there  are,  in 
the  use  of  the  problem  method,  possibilities  for  good  which 
few  teachers  have  fully  realized.^ 

The  selection  and  arrangement  of  materials  for  supple- 
mentary readings  is  guided  by  various  motives,  more  or 
less  intermingling.  It  may  be  chiefly  to  parallel  a  syste- 
matic text  by  extracts  taken  largely  from  the  older  "  clas- 
sics "  of  the  subject  (as  in  C.  J.  Bullock's  Selected  Read- 
ings in  Economics,  1907) ;  or  to  provide  additional  concrete 
material  bearing  mostly  upon  present  economic  problems 
(as  in  the  author's  Source  Book  in  Economics,  1912) ;  or 
to  supplement  a  set  of  exercises  and  problems  (as  in  F.  M. 
Taylor's  Some  Readings  in  Economics,  1907) ;  or  to  con- 
stitute of  itself  an  almost  independent  textbook  of  extracts, 
carefully  edited  with  original  introductions  to  chapters  (as 
Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field's  Materials  for  the  Study  of 
Elementary  Economics,  1913,  and  W.  H.  Hamilton's  Read- 
ings in  Current  Economic  Problems,  1914) . 

Whatever  be  the  particular  tool  of  instruction,  whether 
lecture,  textbook  with  classroom  discussion,  problem  study, 
or  collateral  readings,  its  use  may  be  very  difi"erent  accord- 
ing as  the  teacher  seeks  to  develop  the  subject  positively 
or  negatively,  to  present  a  single  definite  and  (if  he  can) 

1  Among  those  most  elaborately  developing  this  method  has  been 
Professor  F.  M.  Taylor  of  the  University  of  Michigan.  See  his 
paper  on  the  subject  and  discussion  in  the  Journal  of  Political 
Economy,  Vol.  VII,  pages  688-703  (December,  1909).  Marshall, 
Wright,  and  Field  published  the  Outline  of  Economics,  developed 
as  a  series  of  problems  in  1910,  which  they  used  for  a  time  as  the 
main  tool  of  instruction  in  the  introductory  course  in  Chicago 
University. 


234  College  Teaching 

coherent  body  of  doctrines,  or  a  variety  of  opinions  that 
have  been  held,  among  which  the  student  is  encouraged  to 
choose.  Evidently  the  conditions  determining  choice  in  the 
case  of  advanced  courses  are  different  from  those  in  the 
introductory  course.  For  the  beginner  time  is  required 
in  order  that  economic  principles  may  sink  in,  and  so  he  is 
bewildered  if  at  first  he  is  introduced  to  a  number  of  theories 
by  different  authors.  Materials  that  supplement  the  gen- 
eral course  of  principles  should  therefore  be  limited  to  sub- 
ject matter  that  is  descriptive,  concrete,  and  illustrative. 
The  beginner,  somewhat  dazed  with  the  variety  of  new  facts, 
ideas,  terminology,  and  problems  in  the  field  into  which 
he  has  entered,  needs  guidance  to  think  clearly  step  by  step 
about  them.^  Not  until  the  pupil  has  learned  to  see  and 
apprehend  the  simpler  economic  phenomena  near  him  can 
he  be  expected  to  survey  the  broader  fields  and  to  form  in- 
dependent judgments  concerning  complex  situations.  He 
must  creep  before  he  can  run.  In  fact,  teachers  are  often 
self -deceived  when  they  imagine  that  they  are  leaving  stu- 
dents to  judge  for  themselves  among  various  opinions  or 
to  find  their  way  inductively  to  their  own  conclusions.  The 
recitation,  in  truth,  becomes  the  simple  game  of  "  hot  and 
cold."  The  teacher  has  in  mind  what  he  considers  the  right 
answer;  the  groping  student  tries  to  guess  it;  and  as  he 
ventures  this  or  that  inexpert  or  lucky  opinion  he  is  either 
gently  chided  or  encouraged.  At  length  some  bright  pupil 
wins  the  game  by  agreeing  with  the  teacher's  theretofore 
skilfully  concealed  opinion.  This  is  called  teaching  by  the 
inductive  method. 

Undoubtedly  it  is  more  desirable  to  develop  in  the  stu- 
dent the  ability  to  think  independently  about  economic  ques- 
tions than  it  is  to  drill  him  into  an  acceptance  of  ready- 
made  opinions  on  contemporary  practical  issues.  The  more 
fundamental  economic  theory  —  the  more  because  its  bear- 
ing on  pecuniary  and  class  interests  is  not  close  or  obvious 

^  A  thoughtful  discussion  of  some  phases  of  this  problem  is  given 
by  Persons,  art.  cited,  pages  98  ff..  favoring  the  more  positive  treat- 
ment with  less  distracting  multiplicity  of  detail. 


The  Teaching  of  Economics  235 

—  is  an  admirable  organ  for  the  development  of  the  stu- 
dent's power  of  reasoning.  But  to  give  the  student  this 
training  it  is  not  necessary  to  keep  him  in  the  dark  as  to 
what  he  is  to  learn.  The  Socratic  method  is  still  unex- 
celled in  the  discussion  of  a  text  and  of  lectures  in  which 
propositions  are  clearly  laid  down  and  explained.  The 
theorem  in  geometry  is  first  stated,  and  then  the  student  is 
conducted  step  by  step  through  the  reasoning  leading  to  that 
conclusion.  Should  not  the  student  of  economics  have  pre- 
sented to  him  in  a  similar  way  the  idea  or  principle,  and 
then  be  required  to  follow  the  reasoning  upon  which  it 
is  based?  Then,  through  questions  and  problems, —  the 
more  the  better,  if  time  permits  of  their  thorough  discus- 
sion and  solution, —  the  student  may  be  exercised  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  principles,  and  by  illustrations  drawn 
from  history  and  contemporary  conditions  may  be  shown 
the  various  applications  of  the  principle  to  practical  prob- 
lems. To  get  and  hold  the  student's  interest,  to  fascinate 
him  with  the  subject,  is  equal  in  importance  to  the  method, 
for  without  interest  good  results  are  impossible.^ 

^  To  a  former  student  of  mine  and  now  a  successful  teacher,  Dean 
J.  R.  Turner  of  New  York  University,  I  am  indebted  for  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  following  practical  rules,  a  few  among  many  possible, 
which  should  be  helpful  to  younger  teachers: 

(a)  Keep    the    student    expecting    a    surprise,    afraid    to    relax 

attention  for  fear  of  missing  something. 
(6)   By   Socratic   method   lead   him   into   error,   then   have   him 
(under  cross  fire  and  criticism  of  class)   reason  his  way  out. 

(c)  Make  fallacious  argument,  then  call  for  criticism  giving 
distinction  to   him  who   renders  best   judgment. 

(d)  Set  tasks  and  have  members  of  class  compete  in  intel- 
lectual contests. 

(e)  Make  sure  that  each  principle  learned  is  seen  in  its 
relationship  to  practical  affairs. 

(/)  Enliven  each  dry  principle  with  an  anecdote  or  illustra- 
tion to  elucidate  it,  for  principles  devoid  of  interesting 
features  cannot  secure  attention  and  so  will  not  be  re- 
membered. 

ig)  Accompany  the  discussion  with  charts  and  board  work  to 
visualize   facts  and   questions  to   stimulate   thought. 

(h)   Ask  questions  and  so   handle  the  class  discussions  that   a 


236  College  Teaching 

Testa  of        ■'      Jt  must  be  confessed  that  no  exact  objective  measure  of 

suits  the  efficiency  of  teaching  methods  in  economics  has  been 

found.     At  best  we  have  certain  imperfect  indices,  among 

which  are  the  formal  examination,  the  student's  own  opinion 

at  the  close  of  the  course,  and  the  student's  revised  opinion 

♦     after  leaving  college. 

The  primary  purpose  of  the  traditional  examination  is 
not  to  test  the  relative  merits  of  the  different  methods  of 
teaching,  but  to  test  the  relative  merits  of  the  various  stu- 
dents in  a  class,  whatever  be  the  method  of  teaching.  Every 
teacher  knows  that  high  or  low  average  marks  in  an  en- 
tire class  are  evidences  rather  of  the  standard  that  he  is 
setting  than  it  is  of  the  merits  of  his  teaching  methods, — 
.  though  in  some  cases  he  is  able  to  compare  the  results  ob- 
tained after  using  two  different  methods  of  exposition  for 
the  same  subject.  But,  as  was  indicated  above,  such  a 
difference  may  result  from  his  own  temperament  and  may 
point  only  to  the  method  that  he  can  best  use,  not  to  the 
best  absolutely  considered.  Moreover,  the  teacher  may 
make  the  average  marks  high  or  low  merely  by  varying 
the  form  and  content  of  the  examination  papers  or  the 
strictness  of  his  markings. 

Each  ideal  and  method  of  teaching  has  its  corresponding 
type  of  examination.  Descriptive  and  concrete  courses 
lend  themselves  naturally  to  memory  tests;  theoretical 
courses  lend  themselves  to  problems  and  reasoning.  A 
high  type  of  question  is  one  whose  proper  answer  neces- 
sitates knowledge  of  the  facts  acquired  in  the  course  to- 
gether with  an  interpretation  of  the  principles  and  their 
application  to  new  problems.  Memory  tests  serve  to  mark 
ofT  "  the  sheep  from  the  goats  "  as  regards  attention  and 

few  will  not  do  all  the  talking,  that  foreign  subject  matter 
is  not  introduced,  that  a  consistent  and  logical  develop- 
ment of  thought  is  strictly  adhered  to. 
(i)  The  last  few  minutes  of  the  period  might  well  be  devoted 
to  the  assignment  for  the  next  meeting.  The  best  manner 
of  assignment  must  depend  upon  the  nature  of  task,  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  student,  the  purpose  in  view. 


The  Teaching  of  Economics  237 


faithful  work;  reasoning  tests  serve  to  give  a  motive  for 
disciplinary  study  and  to  measure  its  results.  It  may  per- 
haps seem  easier  to  test  the  results  of  the  student's  work  in 
memory  subjects;  but  even  as  to  that  we  know  that  there 
are  various  types  of  memory  and  how  much  less  signifi- 
cant are  marks  obtained  by  "  the  cramming  process  "  than 
are  equally  good  marks  obtained  as  a  result  of  regular  at- 
tention to  daily  tasks. 

The  students'  revised  and  matured  judgment  of  the  value 
of  their  various  college  studies  generally  differ,  often 
greatly,  from  their  judgments  while  taking  or  just  after 
completing  the  courses.  Yet  even  years  afterward  can  man 
judge  rightly  in  his  own  case  just  what  has  been  the  rela- 
tive usefulness  to  him  of  the  different  elements  of  his  com- 
plex college  training,  or  of  the  different  methods  em- 
ployed? ^  But  the  evidence  that  comes  from  the  most 
successful  alumni  to  the  college  teacher  in  economics 
is  increasingly  to  the  effect  that  the  college  work  they  have 
come  to  value  most  is  that  which  "  teaches  the  student  to 
think."  Our  judgments  in  this  matter  are  influenced  by  the 
larger  educational  philosophy  that  we  hold.  Each  will 
have  his  standard  of  spiritual  values. 

The  moot  questions  in  the  teaching  of  the  subject  have, 
perhaps,  been  sufficiently  indicated,  but  we  may  here  add 
a  word  as  to  the  bearings  which  certain  moot  questions 

^  An  interesting  study  made  by  the  department  of  education  of  Har- 
vard University  of  the  teaching  methods  and  results  in  the  depart- 
ment of  economics  was  referred  to  in  President  Lowell's  report. 
According  to  the  answers  of  the  alumni  their  work  in  economics 
is  now  valued  mainly  for  its  civic  and  disciplinary  results  (these 
do  not  seem  to  have  been  further  distinguished).  In  the  introduc- 
tory course  reading  was  ranked  first,  class  work  next,  and  lec- 
tures least,  in  value.  In  the  advanced  courses  the  lecture  was 
ranked  higher  and  class  work  lower,  but  that  may  be  because  the 
lecture  plays  a  more  important  role  there  than  in  the  lower  classes. 
Answers  regarding  such  matters  are  at  most  significant  as  indicating 
the  relative  importance  of  the  various  methods  as  they  have  actually 
been  employed  in  the  particular  institution,  and  have  little  validity 
in  reference  to  the  work  and  methods  of  other  teachers  working 
under  other  conditions,  and  with  students  having  different  life  aims. 


Moot  ques- 
tiona  in 
economics 
affectlnE 
the  teach- 
ing of  the 
subject 


238  College  Teaching 

in  the  theory  of  the  subject  may  have  on  the  methods  of 
teaching.  The  fundamental  theory  of  economics  has,  since 
the  days  of  Adam  Smith,  been  undergoing  a  process  of 
continuous  transition,  but  the  broader  concepts  never  have 
been  more  in  dispute  than  in  the  last  quarter  century  in 
America.  The  possibility  of  such  diversity  of  opinion  in 
the  fundamentals  among  the  leading  exponents  of  the  sub- 
ject argues  strongly  that  economics  is  still  a  philosophy  — 
a  general  attitude  of  mind  and  system  of  opinion  —  rather 
than  a  positive  science.  At  best  it  is  a  "  becoming  sci- 
ence "  which  never  can  cease  entirely  to  have  a  speculative, 
or  philosophic  character.  This  is  not  the  place  to  go  into 
details  of  matters  in  controversy.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  in 
rivalry  to  the  older  school  —  which  is  variously  designated 
Ricardian,  Orthodox,  English,  or  classical  —  newer  ideas 
have  been  developed,  dating  from  the  work  of  the  Aus- 
trian economists,  of  Jevons,  and  of  J.  B.  Clark  in  the  last 
decades  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  older  school  had 
sought  the  explanation  of  value  and  the  theory  of  distribu- 
tion in  objective  factors, —  partly  in  the  chemical  quali- 
ties of  the  soil,  partly  in  labor,  partly  in  the  costs  (or 
outlays)  of  the  employing  class.  The  psychological  factor 
in  value  had  been  almost  eliminated  from  this  older  treat- 
ment of  value  and  price,  or  at  best  was  imperfectly  recog- 
nized under  the  name  of  "  utility."  The  newer  school  made 
the  psychological  element  primary  in  the  positive  treat- 
ment of  economic  principles,  and  launched  a  negative  criti- 
cism against  the  older  terms  and  ideas  that  effectively  ex- 
posed their  unsoundness  considered  separately  and  their 
inconsistency  as  a  system  of  economic  thought.  Both  the 
negative  criticisms  and  the  proposed  amendments  taken  one 
by  one  gained  wide  acceptance  among  economists.  But 
when  it  came  to  embodying  them  in  a  general  theory  of 
economics,  many  economists  have  balked.^     Most   of  the 

1  The  typical  attitude  of  many  economists  is  expressed  about  as  fol- 
lows: It  is  one  thing  to  give  assent  to  refinements  when  they  are 
used  in  the  discussion  of  some  single  point  of  theory,  and  it  is 
quite  another  thing  to  accept   them   when  one  sees  how,  in  their 


The  Teaching  of  Economics  239 

American  texts  in  economics  and  much  of  our  teaching  show 
disastrous  effects  of  this  confusion  and  irresolution.  The 
newer  concepts,  guardedly  admitted  to  have  some  validity, 
appear  again  and  again  in  the  troubled  discussions  of  re- 
cent textbook  writers,  which  usually  end  with  a  rejec- 
tion, "  on  the  whole,"  of  the  logical  implications  of  these 
newer  concepts.  Many  teachers  thus  have  lost  their  grip 
on  any  coordinating  theory  of  distribution.  They  no 
longer  have  any  general  economic  philosophy.  The  old 
Ricardian  cock-sureness  had  its  pedagogic  merits.  Without 
faith,  teaching  perishes.  The  complaints  of  growing  diffi- 
culty in  the  teaching  of  the^  introductory  course  seem  to 
have  come  particularly  from  teachers  that  are  in  this  un- 
happy state  of  mind.  They  declare  that  it  is  impossible 
longer  to  interest  students  successfully  in  a  general  theoret- 
ical course,  and  they  are  experimenting  with  all  kinds  of 
substitutes  —  de-nicotinized  tobacco  and  Kaffee  Hag  — 
from  which  poisonous  theory  has  been  extracted.  At  the 
same  time,  economics  "  with  a  punch  in  it,"  economics 
"  with  a  back  bone,"  is  being  taught  by  strong  young 
teachers  of  the  new  faith  more  successfully,  perhaps,  than 
economics  has  ever  been  taught  in  the  past.  This  greater 
question  of  the  teacher's  conception  of  economics  domi- 
nates all  the  minor  questions  of  method.  Economics  can- 
not be  taught  as  an  integrated  course  in  principles  by 
teachers  without  theoretical  training  and  conceptions;  in 
such  hands  its  treatment  is  best  limited  to  the  descriptive 
phases  of  concrete  special  problems, —  valuable,  indeed,  as 
a  background  and  basis,  but  never  rising  to  the  plane  upon 

combined  effect,  they  would  carry  us  away  from  "  the  old  familiar 
moorings." 

Such  a  view,  it  need  not  be  urged,  reflects  an  unscientific  state 
of  mind.  The  real  cause  of  the  rejection  of  the  ideas  probably 
is  the  shrinking  of  over-busy  men,  in  middle  life,  and  absorbed 
in  teaching  and  in  special  problems,  from  the  intellectual  task  of 
rcstudying  the  fundamentals  and  revising  many  of  their  earlier 
formed  opinions  —  to  say  nothing  of  rewriting  many  of  their  old 
lectures  and  manuscripts. 


240  College  Teaching 

which  alone  economics  is  fully  worth  the  student's  while 
as  a  college  subject. 

Frank  Albert  Fetter 

Princeton  University 

Bibliography 

The  literature  on  the  teaching  of  economics  in  the  secondary 
schools,  its  need  and  its  proper  scope  and  method,  is  somewhat  ex- 
tensive. Another  goodly  group  of  articles  discusses  the  teaching  of 
economic  history  and  of  other  social  sciences  related  to  economics, 
either  in  high  schools  or  colleges.  A  somewhat  smaller  group  per- 
tains to  graduate  instruction  in  the  universities.  The  following  brief 
list  of  titles,  arranged  chronologically,  is  most  pertinent  to  our  pres- 
ent purpose: 

"The  Relation  of  the  Teaching  of  Economic  History  to  the  Teaching 
of  Political  Economy"  (pages  88-101),  and  "  Methods  of  Teach- 
ing Economics"  (pages  105-111),  A.  E.  A.  Economic  Studies, 
Vol.  3,  1898. 

Proceedings  of  a  conference  on  the  teaching  of  elementary  economics, 
Journal  of  Political  Economy,  Vol.  17,  December,  1909. 

Taylor,  F.  M.  "  Methods  of  Teaching  Elementary  Economics," 
Journal  of  Political  Economy.  Vol.  17,  December,  1909,  page  688. 

Wolfe.  A.  B.  "  Aim  and  Content  of  a  College  Course  in  Elementary 
Economics,"  Journal  of  Political  Economy.  Vol.  17,  December, 
1909,  page  673. 

Symposium  by  Carver,  Clark,  Seager,  Seligman.  Nearing,  et  al.. 
Journal  of  Political  Economy,  Vol.  18,  1910. 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Teaching  of  Economics,  Journal  of 
Political  Economy.  Vol.   19.   1911.  pages  760-789. 

Robinson,  L.  N.  "  The  Seminar  in  the  Colleges,"  Journal  of  Politi- 
cal Economy,  Vol.  21,  1913,  page  643. 

Wolfe.  A.  B.  "  The  Aim  and  Content  of  the  Undergraduate 
Economics  Curriculum,"  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  Vol.  21, 
1913,  page  1. 

Persons.  Charles  E.  "Teaching  the  Introductory  Course  in 
Economics,"  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  November,  1916. 


XI 


THE  TEACHING  OF  SOCIOLOGY 


THE  teaching  of  sociology  as  a  definite  college  subject 
in  the  United  States  began  at  Yale  nearly  forty-five 
years  ago.  Since  1873  it  has  been  introduced  into  nearly 
200  American  colleges,  universities,  normal  schools,  and 
seminaries.  A  study  of  this  teaching  in  1910  revealed  over 
700  courses  offered  to  over  8000  undergraduates  and  1100 
graduate  students.  It  is  safe  to  assume  a  steady  growth 
during  the  last  six  years.  Hence  the  problem  of  teaching 
is  of  no  little  concern  to  sociologists.  The  American 
Sociological  Society  early  recognized  this  fact  and  in  1909 
appointed  a  Committee  of  Ten  to  report  on  certain  aspects 
of  the  problem.  But  that  all  teachers  of  sociology  have 
not  grasped  the  bearing  of  pedagogy  upon  their  work  is 
clear  from  complaints  still  heard  from  students  that 
sociology  is  vague,  indefinite,  abstract,  dull,  or  scattered. 
Not  long  ago  some  bright  members  of  a  class  were  over- 
heard declaring  that  their  professor  must  have  been  struck 
by  a  gust  of  wind  which  scattered  his  notes  every  day  be- 
fore getting  to  his  desk. 

Sociology  is  simply  a  way  of  looking  at  the  same  world 
of  reality  which  every  other  science  looks  at  in  its  own  way. 
It  cannot  therefore  depart  far  from  the  pedagogical  prin- 
ciples tried  out  in  teaching  other  subjects.  It  must  utilize 
the  psychology  of  attention,  interest,  drill,  the  problem 
method,  procedure  from  the  student's  known  to  the  new, 
etc.  The  universal  pitfalls  have  been  charted  for  all 
teachers  by  the  educational  psychologists.  In  addition, 
sociology  may  offer  a  few  on  its  own  account,  partly  be- 
cause it  is  new,  partly  because  a  general  agreement  as  to 
the  content  of  fundamentals  in  sociology  courses  is  just 
beginning  to  make  itself  felt,  partly  because  there  is  so 
far  no  really  good  textbook  available  as  a  guide  to  the 
beginner. 

241 


Orowth  of 
sociology 
as  a  col- 
lege subject 


Tbe  peda- 
gogy of 
sociology 
the  peda- 
gogy of  all 
coUege  sub- 
jects 


242 


College  Teaching 


Methods  of 
teaching 
sociology 
determined 
by  a  com- 
plex of  vital 
factors 


Guiding 
principles 
in  the 
teaching  of 
sociology  — 
The  teacher 
as  keen 
analyst,  not 
revivalist 


Avoiding 
the  formal  / 
lecture 


Specific  methods  of  teaching  vary  according  to  individual 
temperament,  the  "set"  of  the  teacher's  mind;  according 
to  his  bias  of  class,  birth,  or  training;  according  to  whether 
he  has  been  formed  or  deformed  by  some  strong  personal- 
ity whose  disciple  he  has  become;  according  to  whether 
he  is  a  radical  or  a  conservative;  according  to  whether  he 
is  the  dreamy,  idealistic  type  or  whether  he  hankers  after 
concrete  facts;  according  to  whether  sociology  is  a  primary 
interest  or  only  an. incidental,  more  or  less  unwelcome. 

Hence  part  of  the  difficulty,  though  by  no  means  all, 
comes  from  the  fact  that  sociology  is  frequently  expounded 
by  men  who  have  received  no  specific  training  themselves 
in  the  subject,  or  who  have  had  the  subject  thrust  upon 
them  as  a  side  issue.  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that  in  1910  sociology  was  "  given  "  in  only  20 
cases  by  sociology  departments,  in  63  by  combinations  of 
economics,  history,  and  politics,  in  11  by  philosophy  and 
psychology,  in  2  by  economics  and  applied  Christianity  or 
theology,  in  1  by  practical  theology! 

Whatever  the  path  which  led  into  the  sociological  field 
or  whatever  the  bias  of  temperament,  experience  justifies 
several  preliminary  hints  for  successful  teaching.  First, 
avoid  the  voice,  the  yearning  manner,  and  the  gesture  of 
the  preacher.  Sociology  needs  the  cool-headed  analyst 
rather  than  the  social  revivalist.  Let  the  sentimentalist 
and  the  muck-raker  stay  with  their  lecture  circuits  and  the 
newspapers.  The  student  wants  enthusiasm  and  inspira- 
tion rather  than  sentimentality. 

Second,  renounce  the  lecture,  particularly  with  young 
students.  There  is  no  surer  method  of  blighting  the  in- 
terest of  students,  of  murdering  their  minds,  and  of  ossify- 
ing the  instructor  than  to  persist  in  the  pernicious  habit 
of  the  formal  lecture.  Some  men  plead  large  classes  in 
excuse.  If  they  were  honest  with  themselves  they  would 
usually  find  that  they  like  large  classes  as  a  subtle  sort  of 
compliment  to  themselves.  Given  the  opportunity  to  break 
up  a  class  of  two  hundred  into  small  discussion  groups 
they  would  frequently  refuse,  on  the  score  that  they  would 


The  Teaching  of  Sociology  243 

lose  a  fine  opportunity  to  influence  a  large  group.     Dodge 

it  as  you  will,  the  lecture  is  and  will  continue  to  be  an 

unsatisfactory,  even   vicious,  way   of  attempting  to   teach 

social    science.     No    reputable    university    tries    to    teach 

economics  or  politics  nowadays  in  huge  lecture  sections. 

Only  an  abnormal  conceit  or  abysmal  poverty  will  prevent 

sociology    departments    from    doing    likewise.     Remember 

that  education  is  always  an  exchange,  never  a  free  gift. 

Third,  do  not  be  afraid  to  utilize  commonplace  facts  and   Adjusting 

r  r  •    ^  •  instruction 

illustrations.     A   successful   professor   of  sociology  writes    to  the 

me  that  he  can   remember  that  what  are  mere  common-   ^f?*!*""' 

01  your 

places  now  were  revelations  to  him  at  twenty-one.  Two  of  students 
the  greatest  teachers  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Faraday 
and  Huxley,  attributed  their  success  to  the  simple  maxim, 
take  nothing  for  granted.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  most 
students  come  from  homes  where  business  and  petty  neigh- 
borhood doings  are  the  chief  concern,  and  where  a  broad, 
well-informed  outlook  on  life  is  rare.  Since  so  many  of 
my  colleagues  insist  that  young  Ph.D.'s  tend  constantly  to 
"  shoot  over  the  heads  "  of  their  students,  the  best  way  of 
avoiding  this  particular  pitfall  seems  to  lie  along  the  road 
of  simple,  elementary,  concrete  fact.  The  discussion 
method  in  the  classroom  will  soon  put  the  instructor  right 
if  he  has  gone  to  the  other  extreme  of  depreciating  his 
students  through  kindergarten  methods.  Likewise  he  can 
guard  against  being  oracular  and  pedantic  by  letting  out 
his  superior  stores  of  information  through  free  discussion 
in  the  Socratic  fashion.  Nothing  is  more  important  to 
good  teaching  than  the  knack  of  apt  illustration.  While 
to  a  certain  extent  it  can  be  taught,  just  as  the  art  of  tell- 
ing a  humorous  story  or  making  a  presentation  speech  can 
be  communicated  by  teachers  of  oral  English,  yet  in  the 
long  run  it  is  rather  a  matter  of  spontaneous  upwellings 
from  a  well-stored  mind.  For  example,  suppose  a  class 
is  studying  the  factors  of  variation  and  selection  in  social 
evolution:  the  instructor  shows  how  Nature  loves  averages, 
not  only  by  statistics  and  experiments  with  the  standard 
curve  of  distribution,  but  also,  if  he  is  a  really  illuminated 


244 


College  Teaching 


Pedagogical 
snggestions 
summarized 


The  course 
of  study  — 
(a)  Deter- 
mined by 
the  maturi- 
ty of  tbe 
students 


teacher,  by  reference,  say,  to  the  legend  of  David  and 
Goliath,  the  fairy  tale  of  Little  One-Eye,  Little  Two-Eye, 
Little  Three-Eye,  and  Lincoln's  famous  aphorism  to  the 
effect  that  the  Lord  must  love  the  common  people  because 
he  made  so  many  of  them.  Sad  experience  advises  that  it 
is  unsafe  for  an  instructor  any  longer  to  assume  that  college 
sophomores  are  familiar  with  the  Old  Testament,  classic 
myths,  or  Greek  and  Roman  history.  Hence  he  must  be- 
ware of  using  any  recondite  allusions  or  illustrations  which 
themselves  need  so  much  explanation  that  their  bearing  on 
the  immediate  problem  in  hand  is  obscured.  An  illustra- 
tion, like  a  funny  story,  loses  its  pungency  if  it  requires  a 
scholium. 

Fourth,  adhere  to  what  a  friend  calls  the  16  to  1  basis 
—  16  parts  fact  and  1  part  theory.  Fifth,  eschew  the  pro- 
fessor's chair.  The  blackboard  is  the  teacher's  "  next 
friend."  Recent  time-motion  studies  lead  us  to  believe  that 
no  man  can  use  a  blackboard  efficiently  unless  he  stands! 
The  most  celebrated  teaching  in  history  was  peripatetic. 
Sixth,  postpone  the  reconciling  of  discrepant  social 
theorizings  to  the  tougher-hided  seniors  or  graduate 
students,  and  stick  to  the  presentation  of  "  accessible 
realities."  Finally,  an  occasional  friendly  meeting  with 
students,  say  once  or  twice  a  semester  at  an  informal 
supper,  will  create  an  atmosphere  of  cooperative  learning, 
will  break  down  the  traditional  barriers  of  hostility  between 
master  and  pupil,  and  may  incidentally  bring  to  the  surface 
many  useful  hints  for  the  framing  of  discussion  prob- 
lems. 

To  a  certain  extent  teaching  methods  are  determined  by 
the  age  of  the  students.  In  1910,  of  all  the  institutions 
reporting,  73  stated  that  sociology  instruction  began  in  the 
junior  year;  23  admitted  sophomores,  4  freshmen,  39 
seniors.  But  the  unmistakable  drift  is  in  the  direction  of  in- 
troducing sociology  earlier  in  the  college  curriculum,  and 
even  into  secondary  and  elementary  schools.  Hence  the 
cautions  voiced  above  tend  to  become  all  the  more  im- 
perative.    Moreover,  while  in  the  past  it  has  been  possible 


The  Teaching  of  Sociology  245 

to  exact  history,  economics,  political  science,  philosophy, 
psychology,  or  education  as  prerequisite  to  beginning  work 
in  sociology,  in  view  of  the  downward  trend  of  sociology 
courses  it  becomes  increasingly  more  difficult  to  take  things 
for  granted  in  the  student's  preparation.  Until  the  dream 
of  offering  a  semester  or  year  of  general  social  science 
to  all  freshmen  as  the  introduction  to  work  in  the  special- 
ized branches  of  social  science  comes  true,  the  sociologist 
must  communicate  to  his  elementary  classes  a  sense  of  the 
relations  between  his  view  of  social  phenomena  and  the 
aspects  of  the  same  phenomena  which  the  historian,  the 
economist,  the  political  scientist,  and  the  psychologist 
handle. 

Both  the  content  and  methods  of  sociological  instruction  (*)  Deter- 
are  determined  also  in  part  by  what  its  purpose  is  conceived  its  aims 
to  be.  A  study  of  the  beginnings  of  teaching  this  subject 
in  the  United  States  shows  that  it  was  prompted  primarily 
by  practical  ends.  For  example,  the  American  Social 
Science  Association  proposal  (1878),  in  so  far  as  it  covered 
the  field  of  sociology,  included  only  courses  on  punish- 
ment and  reformation  of  criminals,  public  and  private 
charities,  and  prevention  of  vice.  President  White  of 
Cornell  in  1871  recommended  a  course  of  practical  in- 
struction "  calculated  to  fit  young  men  to  discuss  intelli- 
gently such  important  social  questions  as  the  best  methods 
of  dealing  practically  with  pauperism,  intemperance,  crime 
of  various  degrees  and  among  persons  of  different  ages, 
insanity,  idiocy,  and  the  like."  Columbia  University  early 
announced  that  a  university  situated  in  such  a  city,  full 
of  problems  at  a  time  when  "  industrial  and  social 
progress  is  bringing  the  modern  community  face  to  face 
with  social  questions  of  the  greatest  magnitude,  the  solu- 
tion of  which  will  demand  the  best  scientific  study  and  the 
most  honest  practical  endeavor,"  must  provide  facilities  for 
bringing  university  study  into  connection  with  practical 
work.  In  1901  definite  practical  courses  shared  honors 
of  first  place  with  the  elementary  or  general  course  in 
college  announcements.     The  situation  was  practically  the 


246 


College  Teaching 


(c)  Deter- 
mined by 
the  social 
character  of 
the  com- 
munity 


The  Intro- 
ductory 
course  the 
vital  point 
of  contact 
'between 
student  and 
the  depart- 
ment 


same  ten  years  later.  Still  more  recently  Professor  Black- 
mar,  one  of  the  veterans  in  sociology  teaching,  worked 
out  rather  an  elaborate  program  of  what  he  called  a  "  rea- 
sonable department  of  sociology  for  colleges  and  universi- 
ties." In  spite  of  the  fact  that  theoretical,  biological, 
anthropological,  and  psychological  aspects  of  the  subject 
were  emphasized,  his  conclusion  was  that  "  the  whole  aim 
is  to  ground  sociology  in  general  utility  and  social  service. 
It  is  a  preparation   for  social   efficiency." 

The  principle  of  adaptation  to  environment  comes  into 
play  also  in  the  choice  of  teaching  methods.  An  urban 
department  can  send  its  students  directly  into  the  field 
for  first-hand  observation  of  industry,  housing,  sanitation, 
congestion,  playgrounds,  immigration,  etc.,  and  may  en- 
courage "  supervised  field  work "  as  fulfilling  course  re- 
quirements. But  the  country  or  small  town  department 
far  removed  from  large  cities  must  emphasize  rural  social 
study,  or  get  its  urban  data  second  hand  through  print, 
charts,  photographs,  or  lantern  slides.  A  semester  ex- 
cursion to  the  city  or  to  some  state  charitable  institution 
adds  such  a  touch  of  vividness  to  the  routine  class  work. 
But  "  slumming  parties "  are  to  be  ruthlessly  tabooed, 
particularly  when  featured  in  the  newspapers.  Social 
science  is  not  called  upon  to  make  experimental  guinea 
pigs  of  the  poor  simply  because  of  their  poverty  and  in- 
ability to   protect  themselves. 

For  many  reasons  the  most  serious  problems  of  teaching 
sociology  center  about  the  elementary  or  introductory 
course.  Advanced  undergraduate  and  graduate  courses 
usually  stand  or  fall  by  the  inherent  appeal  of  their  con- 
tent as  organized  by  the  peculiar  genius  of  the  instructor. 
If  the  student  has  been  able  to  weather  the  storms  of  his 
"  Introduction,"  he  will  usually  have  gained  enough 
momentum  to  carry  him  along  even  against  the  adverse 
winds  of  bad  pedagogy  in  the  upper  academic  zones. 
Since  the  whole  purpose  of  sociology  is  the  very  practical 
one  of  giving  the  student  mental  tools  with  which  to  think 
straight    on    societal    problems    (what    Comte    called    the 


The  Teaching  of  Sociology  247 

"social  point  of  view"),  and  since  usually  only  a  com- 
paratively small  number  find  it  possible  to  specialize  in 
advanced  courses,  the  introductory  course  assumes  what  at 
first  sight  might  seem  a  disproportionate  importance. 
Only  one  or  two  teachers  of  sociology,  so  far  as  I  know, 
discount  the  value  of  an  elementary  course.  The  rest  are 
persuaded  of  its  fundamental  importance,  and  many,  there- 
fore, consider  it  a  breach  of  trust  to  turn  over  this  course 
to  green,  untried  instructors.  Partly  as  a  recruiting  de- 
vice for  their  advanced  courses,  partly  from  this  sense  of 
duty,  they  undertake  instruction  of  beginners.  But  it  is 
often  impossible  for  the  veteran  to  carry  this  elementary 
work:  he  must  commit  it  to  younger  men.  For  that  rea- 
son the  remainder  of  this  chapter  will  be  given  over  to  a 
discussion  of  teaching  methods  for  such  an  elementary 
course,  with  younger  teachers  in  mind. 

First,  two  or  three  general  hints.     It  is  unwise,  to  say  the   Teaching 

^        ^    ^        ^.  ^  ^  .1  .    ,         .  .  suggestions 

least,  to  attempt  to  cover  the  social  universe  in  one  course,  for  the 
Better  a  few  simple  concepts,  abundantly  illustrated,  introductory 
organized  clearly  and  systematically.  Perhaps  it  is  danger- 
ous to  suggest  a  few  recurrent  catch  phrases  to  serve  as 
guiding  threads  throughout  the  course,  but  that  was  the 
secret  of  the  old  ballad  and  the  folk  tale.  Homer  and  the 
makers  of  fairy  tales  combined  art  and  pedagogy  in  their 
use  of  descriptive  epithets.  Such  a  phrase  as  Ward's 
"  struggle  for  existence  is  struggle  for  structure "  might 
furnish  the  framework  of  a  whole  course.  "  Like-minded- 
ness,"  "  interest-groups,"  "  belief -groups,"  and  "  folk- 
ways "  are  also   convenient  refrains. 

Nobody  but  a  thoroughgoing  pedant  will  drag  his 
students  through  two  weeks'  lectures  and  a  hundred  pages 
of  text  at  the  beginning  of  the  course  in  the  effort  to  define 
sociology  and  chart  all  its  affinities  and  relations  with  every 
other  science.  Twenty  minutes  at  the  first  class  meeting 
should  suffice  to  develop  an  understanding  of  what  the 
scientific  attitude  is  and  a  tentative  definition  of  sociology. 
The  whole  course  is  its  real  definition.  At  the  end  of  the 
term  the  very  best  way  of  indicating  the  relation  of  sociology 


248 


College  Teaching 


to  other  sciences  is  through  suggestions  about  following 
up  the  leads  obtained  in  the  course  by  work  in  biology, 
economics,  psychology,  and  other  fields.  This  correlation 
of  the  student's  program  gives  him  an  intimate  sense  of 
the  unity  in  diversity  of  the  whole  range  of  science. 

If  the  student  is  to  avoid  several  weeks  of  floundering, 
he  should  be  led  directly  to  observe  societal  relations  in 
the  making.  This  can  perhaps  be  accomplished  best 
through  assigning  a  series  of  four  problems  at  the  first 
class  meetings. 

Problem  I:  To  show  how  each  student  spins  a  web 
of  social  relationship.  Let  him  take  a  sheet  of  paper, 
place  a  circle  representing  himself  in  the  middle  of  it,  then 
add  dots  and  connecting  lines  for  every  individual  or  in- 
stitution he  forms  a  contact  with  during  the  next  two  or 
three  days.  He  will  get  a  figure  looking  something  like 
this: 


Mother 


Father 


Dentist 


Skati 


Police  station 


Florist 


Problem  II:     To  show  how  neighborhoods  are  socially 
bound   up.     Let   the   student   take   a   section,   say   two   or 


The  Teaching  of  Sociology  249 

three  blocks  square,  in  a  district  he  knows  well,  and  map 
it, —  showing  all  the  contacts.  Again  he  will  get  a  web 
somewhat  like  this: 


These  diagrams  are  adapted  from  students'  reports.  If 
they  seem  absurdly  simple,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
experience  reveals  the  student's  amazing  lack  of  ability  to 
vizualize  social  relationships  without  some  such  device. 
These  diagrams,  however,  should  serve  merely  as  the  point 
of  departure.  Add  to  them  charts  showing  the  sources  of 
milk  and  other  food  supplies  of  a  large  city,  and  a  sense 
of  the  interdependence  and  reciprocity  of  city  and  country 
will  develop.  Take  a  Mercator's  projection  map  of  the 
world  and  draw  the  trade  routes  and  immigration  streams 
to  indicate  international  solidarities.  Such  diagrams  as 
the  famous  health  tract  "  A  Day  in  the  Life  of  a  Fly  "  or  the 
story  of  Typhoid  Mary  are  helpful  in  establishing  how 
closely  a  community  is  bound  together. 

Problem  III:  To  show  the  variety  and  kinds  of  social 
activities,  i.  e.,  activities  that  bring  two  or  more  people 
into  contact.  Have  the  student  note  down  even  the  homeli- 
est sorts  of  such  activities,  the  butcher,  the  postman,  the 
messenger  boy;  insist  that  he  go  out  and  look  instead  of 


250 


College  Teaching 


guessing  or  reading;  require  him  to  group  these  activi- 
ties under  headings  which  he  may  work  out  for  himself. 
He  will  usually  arrive  at  three  or  four,  such  as  getting  a 
living,  recreation,  political.  It  may  be  wise  to  ask  him 
to  grade  these  activities  as  helpful,  harmful,  strengthening, 
or  weakening,  in  order  to  accustom  him  to  the  idea  that 
sociology  must  treat  of  good,  bad,  and  indifferent  objects. 

Problem  IV:  To  determine  what  the  preponderant 
social  interests  and  activities  are  as  judged  by  the  amount 
of  time  men  devote  to  them.  Let  the  student  try  a  "  time 
budget "  for  a  fortnight.  For  this  purpose  Giddings  sug- 
gests a  large  sheet  of  paper  ruled  for  a  wide  left-hand 
margin  and  32  narrow  columns:  the  first  24  columns  for 
hours  of  the  day,  the  25th  for  the  word  "  daily,"  and  the 
last  seven  for  the  seven  days  of  the  week.  In  the  margin 
the  student  writes  the  names  of  every  activity  of  whatever 
description  during  the  waking  hours.  This  will  furnish  ex- 
cellent training  in  exact  habits  of  observation  and  record- 
ing, and  inductive  generalization.  When  the  summary  is 
made  at  the  end  of  the  fortnight,  the  student  will  have 
worked  for  himself  the  habitual  "  planes  of  interest  "  along 
which  social   activities  lie. 

At  this  point  he  ought  to  have  convinced  himself  that 
the  subject  matter  of  sociology  is  concrete  reality,  not 
moonshine.  Moreover,  he  should  be  able  to  lay  down 
certain  fundamental  marks  of  a  social  group,  such  as  a 
common  impulse  to  get  together,  common  sentiments,  ideas, 
and  beliefs,  reciprocal  service.  From  the  discovery  of 
habitual  planes  of  interest  (self-maintenance,  self-perpetua- 


INNEE    URGE    OK    INTER 

EST     (INSTINCT    OR 

DISPOSITION) 


HUNOEE;  WiLLTO-liIVI 

Self- Maintenance 


Skx:   Self -Per  petnation 


MOTOR   EXPRESSION   IN 
ACTIVITY 


The  food-quest 


Procreation  and  parent- 
hood 


RESULTANT  OBOUP   HAB 
IT  OR  INSTITUTION 


Economic  technique, 
j>roi)erty,  invention, 
material   arts  of  life 


The  family,  ancestor 
worship,  courts  of  do 
mestic  relations,  pa- 
triarchal eovernment. 
etc. 


The  Teaching  of  Sociology  251 

tion,  self-assertion,  self-subordination,  etc.)  it  is  a  simple 
step  to  show  diagrammatically  how  each  interest  impels  an 
activity,  which  tends  to  precipitate  itself  into  a  social  habit 
or  institution. 

The  way  is  now  clear  for  the  two  next  steps,  the  con-  To  make 
cepts  of  causation  and  development.     Here  again  why  not   real  make 
follow  the  egocentric  plan  of  starting  with  what  the  student   "  ®80" 
knows?     Ask  him  to  write  a  brief  but  careful  autobiog- 
raphy answering  the  questions  —  How  have  I  come  to  be 
what  I  am?     What  influences  personal  or  otherwise  have 
played  upon  me?  ^     The  student  is  almost  certain  to  lay 
hold  of  the  principle  of  determining  or  controlling  forces, 
and  of  evolution  or  change;  he  may  even  be  able  to  analyze 
rather  clearly  the  different  types  of  control   which  have 
cooperated  in  his  development. 

From  this  start  it  is  easy  to  develop  the  genetic  con- 
cept of  social  life.  The  individual  grows  from  simple  to 
complex.  Why  not  the  race?  Here  introduce  a  compari- 
son between  the  social  group  known  to  the  student,  a  re- 
tarded group  (such  as  MacClintock's  or  Vincent's  study  of 
the  Kentucky  Mountaineers^)  or  a  frontier  community, 
and  a  contemporary  primitive  tribe  (say,  the  Hupa  or  Seri 
Indians,  Negritos,  Bontoc  Igorot,  Bangala,  Kafirs,  Yakuts, 
Eskimo,  or  Andaman  Islanders).  Require  a  detailed  com- 
parison arranged  in  parallel  columns  on  such  points  as 
size,  variety  of  occupation,  food  supply,  security  of  life, 
institutions,  family  life,  language,  religion,  superstitions, 
and  opportunities  for  culture. 

These  two  points  of  departure  —  the  student's  interest  in 
his  own  personality  and  the  community  influences  that  have 
molded  it,  and  the  comparative  study  of  a  primitive  group 
—  should  harmonize  the  two  chief  rival  views  of  teaching 
sociologists;  namely,  those  who  urge  the  approach  to 
sociology  through  anthropology  and  those  who  find  the 
best  avenue  through  the  concrete  knowledge  of  the  socius. 

^  In  order  to  secure  frank  statements,  both  these  autobiographies  and 

the  time  budgets  may  be  handed  in  anonymously. 
^American  Journal  of  Sociology,  4:1-20;  7:1-28,  171-187. 


252  College  Teaching 

Moreover,  it  lays  a  foundation  for  a  discussion  of  the 
antiquity  of  man,  his  kinship  with  other  living  things,  and 
his  evolution;  that  is,  the  biological  presupposition  of 
human  society.  Here  let  me  testify  to  the  great  help  which 
Osborn's  photographs  ^  of  reconstructions  of  the  Pithecan- 
thropos,  Piltdown,  Neanderthal,  and  Cro-Magnon  types 
have  rendered  iri  clearing  away  prejudices  and  in  vivifying 
the  remote  past.  Religious  apprehensions  in  particular 
may  be  allayed  also  by  referring  students  to  articles  on 
race,  man,  evolution,  anthropology,  etc.,  in  such  compila- 
tions as  the  Catholic  Encyclopedia  and  Hastings'  Encyclo- 
pedia of  Religion  and  Ethics.  The  opening  chapters  in 
Marett's  little  book  on  Anthropology  are  so  sanely  and  ad- 
mirably written  that  they  also  clear  away  many  prejudices 
and  fears. 
V  With  such  a  concrete  body  of  facts  contrasting  primitive 
with  modern  civilized  social  life  the  student  will  naturally 
inquire.  How  did  these  changes  come  about?  At  this  point 
should  come  normally  the  answer  in  terms  of  what  prac- 
tically all  sociologists  agree  upon;  namely,  the  three  great 
sets  of  determining  forces  or  phenomena,  the  three  "  con- 
trols": (1)  the  physical  environment  (climate,  topography, 
natural  resources,  etc.) ;  (2)  man's  own  nature  (psycho- 
physical factors,  the  factors  in  biological  evolution,  the 
role  of  instinct,  race,  and  possibly  the  concrete  problems 
of  immigration  and  eugenics);  (3)  social  heredity  (folk- 
ways, customs,  institutions,  the  arts  of  life,  the  methods 
of  getting  a  living,  significance  of  tools,  distribution  of 
wealth,  standards  of  living,  etc.).  A  blackboard  diagram 
will  show  how  these  various  factors  converge  upon  any 
given  individual.- 

The  amplification  of  these  three  points  will  ordinarily 
make  up  the  body  of  an  introductory  course  so  far  as  class 
work  goes.  Ethnography  should  furnish  rich  illustrative 
material.  But  to  make  class  discussions  really  productive 
the  student's  knowledge  of  his  own  community  must  be 

1  In  his  Men  of  the  Old  Stone  Age. 

2  See  such  a  diagram  in  Todd,  Theories  of  Social  Progress,  page  240. 


The  Teaching  of  Sociology  253 

drawn  upon.  And  the  best  way  of  getting  this  correlation 
is  through  community  surveys.  The  student  should  be  re- 
quired as  parallel  laboratory  work  to  prepare  a  series  of 
chapters  on  his  ward  or  part  of  his  ward  or  village,  cover- 
ing the  three  sets  of  determining  factors.  The  instructor 
may  furnish  an  outline  of  the  topics  to  be  investigated, 
or  he  may  pass  around  copies  of  such  brief  survey  out- 
lines as  Aronovici's  Knowing  One's  Own  Community  or 
Miss  Byington's  What  Social  Workers  Should  Know  about 
Their  Own  Communities;  he  may  also  refer  them  to  any 
one  of  the  rapidly  growing  number  of  good  urban  and 
rural  surveys  as  models.  But  he  should  not  give  too  much 
information  as  to  where  materials  for  student  reports  may 
be  obtained.  The  disciplinary  value  of  having  to  hunt  out 
facts  and  uncover  sources  is  second  only  to  the  value  of  ac- 
curate observation  and  effective  presentation.  If  the  aim 
of  a  sociology  course  is  social  efficiency,  experience  shows 
no  better  way  of  getting  a  vivid,  sober,  first-hand  knowledge 
of  community  conditions.  And  there  is  likewise  no  surer 
way  of  compelling  students  to  substitute  facts  for  vapid 
wordiness  and  snap  judgments. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  course  many  of  us  have  found  it 
profitable  to  introduce  a  brief  discussion  of  what  may  be 
called  the  highest  term  of  the  series;  namely,  the  evolution 
of  two  or  three  typical  institutions,  say  law  and  govern- 
ment, education,  religion,  and  the  family.  These  topics 
will  serve  to  clinch  the  earlier  discussions  and  to  crystallize 
a  few  ideas  on  social  control  and  perhaps  even  social 
progress. 

Normally  such  a  course  will  close  with  a  fuller  defini- 
tion of  the  meaning  of  sociology,  its  content,  its  value  in 
the  study  of  other  sciences,  and,  if  time  permits,  a  brief 
historical  sketch  of  the  development  of  sociology  as  a 
separate  science. 

I  have  no  certified  advice  to  offer  on  the  question  of  text-   The  use  of » 
books.     But  the  almost  universal  cry  of  sociology  teachers   g*a^y°^ 
is  that  so  far  no  really  satisfactory  text  has  been  produced. 
Some  men  still  use  Spencer,  some  write  their  own  books, 


254 


College  Teaching 


The  social 
mnseum 


Field  work: 
valnes  and 
limitations 


some  try  to  adapt  to  their  particular  needs  such  texts  as 
are  issued  from  time  to  time,  some  use  none  at  all  but  de- 
pend upon  a  more  or  less  well -correlated  syllabus  or  set  of 
readings.  There  is  undoubtedly  a  profitable  demand  for 
a  good  elementary  source  book  comparable  to  Thomas's 
Source  Book  on  Social  Origins  or  Marshall,  Wright,  and 
Field's  Materials  for  the  Study  of  Elementary  Economics. 
Nearly  any  text  will  need  freshening  up  by  collateral  read- 
ing from  such  periodicals  as  The  Survey  or  The  New  Re- 
public. In  order  to  secure  effective  and  correlated  out- 
side reading,  many  teachers  have  found  it  helpful  to  re- 
quire the  students  to  devote  the  first  five  or  ten  minutes  of 
a  class  meeting  once  a  week  or  even  daily  to  a  written 
summary  of  their  readings  and  of  class  discussions.  Such 
a  device  keeps  readings  fresh  and  enables  the  teacher  to 
emphasize  the  points  of  contact  between  readings  and  class 
work. 

Every  university  should  develop  some  sort  of  a  social 
museum,  to  cover  primitive  types  of  men,  the  evolution  of 
tools,  arts  of  life,  manners  and  customs,  and  contemporary 
social  conditions.  These  can  be  displayed  in  the  form  of 
plaster  casts,  ethnographic  specimens,  photographs,  lantern 
slides,  models  of  housing,  statistical  charts,  printed  mono- 
graphs, etc.  The  massing  of  a  series  of  these  illustra- 
tions sometimes  produces  a  profound  effect.  For  example, 
the  corridor  leading  to  the  sociology  rooms  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Minnesota  has  been  lined  with  large  photographs 
of  tenement  conditions,  child  labor,  immigrant  types,  etc. 
The  student's  interest  and  curiosity  have  been  heightened 
immensely.  Once  a  semester,  during  the  discussion  of  the 
economic  factor  in  social  life,  we  stage  what  is  facetiously 
called  "  a  display  of  society's  dirty  linen."  The  classroom 
is  decorated  with  a  set  of  charts  showing  the  distribution 
of  wealth,  wages,  cost  of  living,  growth  of  labor  unions 
and  other  organizations  of  economic  protest.  The  mass 
effect  is  a  cumulative  challenge. 

Finally,  a  word  about  "  field  work  "  as  a  teaching  de- 
vice.    Field  work  usually  means  some  sort  of  social  service 


The  Teaching  of  Sociology  255 

practice  work  under  direction  of  a  charitable  agency, 
juvenile  court,  settlement,  or  playground.  But  beginning 
students  are  usually  more  of  a  liability  than  an  asset  to 
such  agencies;  they  lack  the  time  to  supervise  students' 
work,  and  field  work  without  strict  supervision  is  a  farcical 
waste  of  time.  If  such  agencies  will  accept  a  few  students 
who  have  the  learner's  attitude  rather  than  an  inflated  per- 
suasion of  their  social  Messiahship,  field  work  can  become 
a  very  valuable  adjunct  to  class  work.  In  default  of  such 
opportunities  the  very  best  field  work  is  an  open-eyed  study 
of  one's  own  community,  in  the  attempt  to  find  out  what 
actually  is  rather  than  to  reform  a  hypothetical  evil.^ 

Arthur  J.  Todd 

University  of  Minnesota 

^  While  accepting  full  responsibility  for  the  opinions  herein  set  forth, 
I  wish  to  express  my  appreciation  of  assistance  rendered  by  a  large 
group  of  colleagues  in  the  American  Sociological  Society. 


XII 

THE  TEACHING  OF   HISTORY 

A.  The  Teaching  of  American  History 

toe°teMhM  T  TISTORY  as  a  science  attempts  to  explain  the  develop- 
of  history  XI  ment  of  civilization.  The  investigator  of  the  sources 
of  history  must  do  his  part  in  a  truly  scientific  spirit.  He 
must  examine  with  the  utmost  scrutiny  the  many  sources 
on  which  the  history  of  the  past  has  its  foundation.  He 
reveals  facts,  and  through  them  the  truth  is  established. 

But  history  is  more  than  a  science.  It  is  an  art.  The 
investigator  is  not  necessarily  a  historian,  any  more  than 
a  lumberman  is  an  architect.  The  historian  must  use  all 
available  material,  whether  the  result  of  his  own  researches 
or  that  of  others.  He  must  weigh  all  facts  and  deduct 
from  them  the  truth.  He  must  analyze,  synthesize,  organ- 
ize, and  generalize.  He  must  absorb  the  spirit  of  the  people 
of  whom  he  writes  and  color  the  narrative  as  little  as  pos- 
sible with  his  oiwn  prejudices.  But  the  historian  must  be 
more  than  a  narrator;  he  must  be  an  interpreter.  As  an 
interpreter  he  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  all 
his  deductions  should  be  along  scientific  lines.  Even  then 
he  will  not  escape  errors.  In  pure  science  error  is  inad- 
missible. In  history  minor  errors  of  fact  are  unavoidable, 
but  their  presence  need  not  seriously  affect  the  general 
conclusions.  In  spite  of  many  misstatements  of  fact,  a 
historical  work  may  be  substantially  correct  in  the 
main  things  —  in  presenting  and  interpreting  with  true 
perspective  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  people  of  whom  it 
treats. 

The  historian  must  be  more  than  a  chronicler  and  an 
interpreter.  He  must  be  master  of  a  lucid,  virile,  at- 
tractive literary  style.  The  power  of  expression,  indeed, 
must  be  one  of  his  chief  accomplishments.  The  old  notion, 
it  is  true,  that  history  is  merely  a  branch  of  literature  is 

256 


The  Teaching  of  History  257 

quite  as  erroneous  as  the  later  theory  that  history  is  a  pure 

science   and   must   be   dissociated   from   all    literary   form. 

The    pioneer    investigator    who    patiently    delves    into   The  teacher 
II-  1 .    I  .11  i_  •    L    0'  history 

sources   and   brmgs   to   light   new   material   deserves   nigh   as  the 

praise,  but  far  rarer  is  the  gift  of  the  man  who  sees  history   J^**^**"."' 

in  its  true  perspective,  who  can  construct  the  right  relation-  tionof 

ships    and    can    then    reproduce    the    past    in    compelling   *^       ***°° 

literary  form.     A  historian  without  literary  charm  is  like 

an  architect  who  cares  only  for  the  utility  and  nothing  for 

the  grace  and  beauty  of  his  building. 

The      history      teacher      who      slavishly      follows      old   Thechrono- 

locrical 
chronological    methods    has    not    kept    pace   with    modem  point  of 

progress;  but  the  teacher  who  has  discarded  the  chronologi-  ^'^ 

cal  method  has  ventured  without  a  compass  on  an  unknown 

sea.     Chronology,  the  sequence  of  events,  is  as  necessary 

in  history  as  distance  and  direction  in  geography. 

A    modern    school    of    history    teachers    would    make  ^^' 
economics  the  sole  background  of  history,  would  explain  pointer 
all    historic    events    from    the    economic    standpoint  —  to      *' 
which  school  this  writer  does  not  belong.     Economics  has 
played  a  great  part  in  the  course  of  human  events,  but  it  is 
only  one  of  many  causes  that  explain  history.     For  ex- 
ample, the  Trojan  War  (if  there  was  a  Trojan  War),  the 
conquests  .of  Alexander,  the  Mohammedan  invasions,  were 
due  chiefly  to  other  causes. 

Nor  would  we  agree  with  the  school  of  modern  educators  J^^-jg 
who  would  eliminate  the  culture  studies  from  the  curricu-  viewpoint 
lum,  retaining  only  those  which  make  for  present-day 
utilitarianism.  A  general  education  imparts  power  and 
enlarges  life,  and  such  an  education  should  precede  all 
technical  and  specialized  training.  If  a  young  man  with 
the  solid  foundation  of  a  liberal  education  fail  in  this  or 
that  walk  of  life,  the  fault  must  be  sought  elsewhere  than 
in  his  education.  The  late  E.  H.  Harriman  made  a  wise 
observation  when  he  said  that  though  a  high  school 
graduate  may  excel  the  college  graduate  in  the  same  em- 
ployment for  the  first  year,  the  latter  would  at  length  over- 
take and  pass  him  and  henceforth  remain  in  the  lead. 


258 


College  Teaching 


Alms  of 
history  In 
the  college 
carrlculom 


What  can 
the  study 
of  Ameri- 
can history 
give  the 
college 
student? 


The  uses  of  the  study  of  history  are  many,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  perhaps  is  that  it  aids  us  in  penetrating 
the  present.  Our  understanding  of  every  phase  of  modern 
life  is  no  doubt  strengthened  by  a  knowledge  of  the  past. 
It  is  trite  but  true  to  say  that  the  study  of  history  is  a 
study  of  human  nature,  that  a  knowledge  of  the  origin  and 
growth  of  the  institutions  we  enjoy  makes  for  a  good  citi- 
zenship, that  the  study  of  history  is  a  cultural  study  and 
that  it  ranks  with  other  studies  as  a  means  of  mental  dis- 
cipline. Finally,  the  reading  of  history  by  one  who  has 
learned  to  love  it  is  an  abiding  source  of  entertainment  and 
mental  recreation.  It  is  one  of  the  two  branches  of  knowl- 
edge (the  other  being  literature)  which  no  intelligent  per- 
son, whatever  his  occupation,  can  afford  to  lay  aside  after 
quitting  school. 

The  most  important  historical  study  is  always  that  of 
one's  own  country.  In  our  American  colleges,  therefore, 
the  study  of  American  history  must  take  precedence  over 
that  of  any  other,  though  an  exception  may  be  made  in  case 
a  student  is  preparing  to  teach  the  history  of  some  other 
country  or  period.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  by 
the  student  of  American  history  that  a  study  of  the 
European  background  is  an  essential  part  of  it. 

From  its  very  newness  the  history  of  the  United  States 
may  seem  less  fascinating  than  that  of  the  older  countries, 
and,  indeed,  it  is  true  that  the  glamour  of  romance  that 
gathers  around  the  stories  of  royal  dynasties,  orders  of 
nobility,  and  ancient  castles  is  wanting  in  American  history. 
But  there  is  much  to  compensate  for  this.  The  coming  of 
the  early  settlers,  often  because  of  oppression  in  their  native 
land,  their  long  struggle  with  the  forest  and  with  the  wild 
men  and  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  the  gradual  conquest 
of  the  soil,  the  founding  of  cities,  the  transplanting  of 
European  institutions  and  their  development  under  new 
environment  —  the  successful  revolt  against  political  op- 
pression and  the  fearless  grappling  with  the  problem  of 
self-government  when  nearly  all  governments  in  the  world 
were  monarchical  —  these  and  many  other  phases  of  Ameri- 


The  Teaching  of  History  259 

can   history   furnish   a   most   fascinating  story   as   a   mere 
story. 

But  to  the  student  of  politics  and  history  the  most  unique  To  the  coi- 

,     .  ,.  ,  ..  .  |.^  !•         lege  student 

and    mterestmg  thmg,    perhaps,    m    American   history   lies   American 
in  the  fact  that  the  United  States  is  the  first  great  country   ^^^^ 
in  the  world's  history  in  which  the  federal  system  has  been   presented  as 
successful  —  if   we  assume  that   our   experimental    period   tJ^*'" "^g^ 
has    passed.     Perhaps    the    greatest    of    all    governmental   ofdemoc- 
problems   is  just  this:     How  to   strike   the   right  balance   "*^ 
between    these    opposing    tendencies  —  liberty    and    union, 
democracy  and  nationality  —  so  that  the  people  may  enjoy 
the  benefits  of  both.     The  United  States  has,  no  doubt,  come 
nearer  than  any  other  country  to  solving  this  problem,  and 
the  fact  greatly  enhances  the  interest  in  our  history.     This 
is  a  question  of  political   science  rather  than  of  history, 
it  is  true,  but  the  history  of  any  country  and  its  govern- 
ment are  inseparably  bound  together. 

In  the  regular  college  curriculum  there  should  be,  in  utuitarian 
my  opinion,  two  courses  in  American  history.  value 

Course  I  —  about   3   hours   for   one   academic   year    (6   organiza- 
semester-hours)  in  the  freshman  or  sophomore  year,  cover-  ^^g^g^n^ 
ing  the  whole  story  of  the  United  States.     About  one  third   methods  of 
of  the  year's  work  should  cover  the  Colonial  and  Revolu-     '**^ 
tionary  periods.     Of  the  remaining  two  thirds  of  the  year 
I  should  devote  about  half  to  the  period  since  the  Civil 
War. 

This  course  should  be  required  of  all  students  taking 
the  A.B.  degree  and  in  all  other  liberal  arts  courses;  an 
exception  may  be  made  in  the  case  of  those  taking  certain 
specialized  scientific  courses  —  for  these  students,  the 
history  required  in  the  high  school  may  be  deemed  sufficient. 

In  this  course  a  textbook  is  necessary,  and  if  the  class 
is  large  it  is  desirable  that  the  text  be  uniform.  The  text 
should  be  written  by  a  true  historian  with  broad  and  com- 
prehensive views,  by  one  who  knows  how  to  appraise  his- 
toric values,  and,  if  possible,  by  one  who  commands  an  at- 
tractive literary  style.  If  the  textbook  is  written  by  Dr. 
Dry-as-dust,  however  learned  he  may  be,  the  whole  burden 


260  College  Teaching 

of  keeping  the  class  interested  rests  with  the  teacher;  and, 
moreover,  many  of  the  students  will  never  become  lovers 
of  the  subject  to  such  a  degree  as  to  make  it  a  lifelong 
study. 

The  exclusive  lecture  system  is  intolerable,  and  the  same 
is  true  of  the  quiz.  A  teacher  will  do  his  best  work  if  un- 
trammeled  by  rules.  He  should  conduct  a  class  in  his  own 
way  and  according  to  his  own  temperament.  It  is  doubtful 
if  the  teacher  who  carefully  plans  and  maps  out  the  work 
he  intends  to  present  to  the  class  is  the  most  successful 
teacher.  A  teacher  who  is  free,  spontaneous,  without  a 
fixed  method,  ready  in  passing  from  the  lecture  to  the  quiz 
and  vice  versa  at  any  moment,  quick  in  asking  unexpected 
questions,  will  usually  have  little  trouble  in  keeping  a  class 
alert.  Above  all,  a  teacher  of  college  history  must  explain 
the  meaning  of  things  with  far  greater  fullness  than  is  pos- 
sible in  a  condensed  textbook,  and  it  is  a  most  excellent 
practice  to  ask  opinions  of  members  of  the  class  on  almost 
all  debatable  questions  that  may  arise.  The  reason  for 
this  is  obvious. 

The  usual  method  of  the  writer,  in  as  far  as  he  has  a 
method,  is  to  spend  the  first  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  of 
the  class  hour  in  hearing  reports  from  two  or  three  students 
on  special  topics  that  have  been  assigned  them  a  week  or 
two  before,  topics  that  require  library  reference  work  and . 
that  could  not  possibly  be  developed  from  the  textbook. 
These  topics  are  not  on  the  subject  of  the  day's  lesson,  but 
of  some  preceding  lesson.  After  commenting  on  these  re- 
ports and  often  asking  for  opinions  and  comments  of  the 
class,  we  plunge  into  the  day's  lesson. 

The  use  of  a  current  periodical  in  class  should  be  en- 
couraged. It  brings  the  learner  into  direct  contact  with 
life  and  often  illuminates  the  past. 

Current  events  as  presented  in  the  daily  papers  should 
often  be  the  subject  of  comment,  but  the  daily  newspaper 
is  not  suitable  for  class  use.  Even  the  weekly  is,  for 
several  reasons,  less  desirable  than  the  monthly.  It  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  basal,  fundamental  work  of  the 


The  Teaching  of  History  261 

class  is,  not  to  keep  posted  on  current  aflfairs,  but  to  study 
the  elements  under  the  guidance  of  a  textbook  and  an  in- 
spiring teacher  to  interpret  it.  The  weekly  is  less  accurate 
than  the  monthly  and  less  literary  in  form,  and,  moreover, 
it  comes  too  often.  It  is  apt  to  take  too  much  time  from 
the  study  of  the  fundamentals.  The  use  of  the  periodical 
in  the  history  class  has  probably  come  to  stay  and  it  should 
stay,  but  it  should  be  only  incidental  and  supplementary. 

Course  II  should  be  given  in  the  junior  or  senior  year. 
It  should  be  elective,  should  cover  at  least  two  year-hours, 
and  should  be  wholly  devoted  to  the  national  period  of 
American  history.  Only  those  having  taken  Course  I 
should  be  eligible  to  this  class. 

Every  student  who  expects  to  read  law,  to  enter  journal- 
ism or  politics,  or  to  teach  history  or  political  science 
should  take  this  course.  The  class  will  be  smaller  than 
in  Course  I.  Uniform  textbooks  need  not  be  required,  or 
the  class  may  be  conducted  without  a  text.  Most  of  the 
work  must  be  done  from  the  library. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  members  of  this  class  have  a  good 
knowledge  of  the  narrative,  and  it  is  needless  to  follow  it 
closely  again.  A  better  plan  is  to  choose  an  important 
phase  of  the  history  here  and  there  and  study  intensively. 
Much  use  should  be  made  of  original  sources  such  as  Presi- 
dents' messages.  Congressional  Record,  speeches  and  writ- 
ings of  the  times,  but  the  class  must  not  ignore  the  fact 
that  a  vast  amount  of  good  material  may  be  had  from  the 
historians.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  original  re- 
search is  for  the  graduate  student  and  the  specialist  rather 
than  for  the  undergraduate. 

In  conclusion,  I  shall  explain  a  method  of  examination  J^^^  ^^ 
that  I  have  frequently  employed  with  apparently  excellent  instruction 
results.  Two  or  three  weeks  before  the  time  of  the  exami- 
nation I  give  the  class  a  series  of  topics,  perhaps  fifty  or 
more,  carefully  chosen  from  the  entire  subject  that  has  been 
studied  during  the  semester.  Instead  of  having  the  usual 
review  of  the  text,  we  talk  over  these  subjects  in  class  dur- 
ing the   remainder  of  the  semester.     The  examination   is 


262  College  Teaching 

oral,  not  written.  The  time  for  examination  is  divided  into 
three,  four,  or  five  minute  periods,  according  to  the  number 
in  the  class.  When  a  student's  name  is  called,  he  comes 
forward  and  draws  from  a  box  one  of  the  topics  and  dilates 
on  it  before  the  class  during  his  allotted  time.  If  he  fails 
on  the  first  topic  he  may  have  another  draw,  but  his  grade 
will  be  reduced.  A  second  failure  would  mean  a  "  flunk," 
unless  the  class  marks  are  very  high. 

There  are  three  or  four  real  advantages  in  this  form 
of  examination:  (1)  It  saves  the  teacher  hours  of  labor  in 
reading  examination  papers;  (2)  the  teacher,  in  selecting 
the  topics,  omits  the  unimportant  and  chooses  only  the 
salient,  leading  subjects  such  as  every  student  should 
master  and  remember;  (3)  the  student,  knowing  that  no 
new  questions  will  be  sprung  for  the  examination,  will  be 
almost  sure  to  be  prepared  on  every  question.  Failures 
under  this  system  have  been  much  less  frequent  than  under 
the  old  system  of  written  examinations;  (4)  it  practically 
eliminates  all  chance  of  cheating  in  examination. 

Henry  W.  Elson 

Thiel  College 


The  Teaching  of  History 


263 


B.  Modern  European  History 


TEACHING  European  history  in  colleges  is,  in  many 
ways,  not  different  from  teaching  any  other  history. 
In  each  instance  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  history  in- 
cludes all  activities  of  man  and  not  merely  his  political  life, 
that  facts  and  data  are  not  intrinsically  valuable  but  are 
merely  a  means  to  an  end,  that  the  end  of  history  is  to 
inform  us  where  man  came  from,  what  experiences  he 
passed  through,  and  chiefly,  what  were  the  fundamental 
forces  behind  his  experiences.  The  emphasis  should  be  put 
on  the  stimuli  —  economic,  political,  religious,  or  social  — 
that  lead  man  to  act,  instead  of  narrating  his  action.  In 
a  word,  not  what  happened  or  when  it  happened,  but  why 
it  happened,  is  of  importance  in  college  history.  Stress- 
ing the  stimuli  in  history  will  almost  inevitably  lead  to 
treating  history  as  a  continuous  or  evolutionary  process, 
which  of  itself  greatly  increases  the  interest  of  the  subject. 

It  is  highly  desirable  that  in  teaching  modern  history 
very  much  more  time  be  given  to  recent  history  than  has 
generally  been  the  case.  Frederick  William  I  showed  that 
he  accepted  this  when  he  instructed  the  tutors  of  Frederick 
(later  the  Great)  to  teach  the  history  of  the  last  fifty 
years  to  the  exactest  pitch.  So  important  is  this  that,  even 
when  teaching  early  periods,  constant  contrasts  or  compari- 
sons with  present  conditions  should  be  made,  and  the 
descent  of  ideas  and  institutions  to  modern  times  should 
be  sketched,  as  it  shows  the  student  that  remote  events  or 
institutions  have  a  relationship  to  current  life. 

Certain  special  aims  of  history  have  been  advocated. 
It  is  held  to  be  of  disciplinary  value,  especially  in 
strengthening  the  memory.  Though  this  is  true,  it  is  hardly 
a  good  reason  for  studying  history,  as  the  memory  can  be 
perfected  on  almost  anything,  on  the  dictionary,  poetry, 
formulae,  family  records,  gossip,  or  cans  on  grocery  shelves, 
some  of  which  may  indeed  be  of  more  practical  value  than 
dates.     In  college,  at  least,  history  should  aim  to  explain 


History  to 
be  taught 
as  an  evo- 
lutionary 
process 


Because 
history  Is 
an  evolu- 
tion It  must 
explain  the 
present 


Disciplinary 
values  of 
history 


264 


College  Teaching 


Organiza- 
tion of 
courses  in 
bistory  — 
What  to 
teach  in  the 
beginning 
coarse 


Gradation 
of  courses 
determined 
by  content 


social  tendencies  and  processes  in  a  rational  way  rather 
than  to  develop  the  memory.  The  latter  method  tends  to 
make  the  student  passive  and  narrow,  the  former  requires 
cerebration  and  develops  breadth  and  depth  of  vision 
Understanding  history,  rather  than  memorizing  it,  has 
cultural  value.  To  be  sure,  understanding  presupposes  in- 
formation; but  where  there  is  a  desire  to  understand,  the 
process  of  seeking  and  acquiring  the  information  is  natural 
and  tends  to  care  for  itself. 

History  is  not  a  prerequisite  to  professional  careers  in 
the  way  mathematics  is  to  engineering;  still,  special 
periods,  chiefly  the  modern,  are  highly  useful  to  lawyers, 
journalists,  publicists,  statesmen,  and  others,  each  of  whom 
selects  what  he  finds  most  useful  to  his  purposes. 

The  point  of  view  in  history  teaching  is  more  material 
than  the  machinery  or  methods  employed.  These  must  and 
should  vary  with  persons  and  conditions.  Ordinarily,  how- 
ever, it  seems  preferable  to  off"er  some  part  of  European 
history  as  the  first-year  college  course,  because  students 
have  usually  had  considerable  American  history  in  high 
school,  and  the  change  adds  new  interest.  Whether  this 
course  be  general,  medieval,  or  modern  European  history 
is  of  little  importance,  though,  of  course,  medieval  should 
precede  modern  history.  In  any  case,  the  course  should 
ofl"er  the  student  a  good  deal  more  than  he  may  have  had 
in  high  school,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  justify  the 
profound  respect  with  which  he  ordinarily  comes  to  college. 
It  should  come  often  enough  a  week  to  grip  the  student, 
especially  the  history  major. 

Gradation  of  courses  in  history  on  the  basis  of  subject 
matter  is  largely  arbitrary,  and  turns  upon  the  method 
of  presentation.  General  courses  naturally  precede  period 
courses.  A  sound  principle  is  to  select  courses  adapted 
to  the  stages  of  the  student's  development.  On  this  prin- 
ciple it  has  already  been  suggested  that  the  first  college 
course  should  be,  not  American  but  European  history. 
English,  ancient,  medieval,  or  modem  history  immediately 
suggest  themselves,  with  strong  arguments  in  favor  of  the 


The  Teaching  of  History 


265 


first  if  but  one  freshman  course  is  offered,  as  it  forms 
a  natural  projection  of  American  history  into  the  past. 
Beyond  this,  what  subject  matter  is  offered  in  the  several 
years  is  largely  a  matter  of  local  convenience,  as  the  college 
student  understands  the  general  history  of  all  nations  or 
periods  about  equally  well.  It  is  now  clear,  however,  that 
the  student  should  know  more  modern  and  contemporary 
European  history  than  he  has  been  getting,  and  the  sound 
training  of  an  American  of  the  future  should  include 
thorough  training  in  modern  European  history. 

Gradation  based  on  the  method  of  presentation  is  more 
nearly  possible.  Graduate  courses  presuppose  training  in 
the  auxiliary  sciences,  in  the  necessary  languages,  in  re- 
search methods,  in  the  special  field  of  research,  as  well  as 
a  knowledge  of  general  history.  This  establishes  a  sort  of 
sequence  of  the  methods  to  be  employed,  irrespective  of 
subject  matter. 

The  lecture  method  is  convenient  for  the  elementary 
courses,  especially  if,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  these  have 
a  large  number  of  students.  It  cannot,  however,  be  gain- 
said that  convenience  or,  worse  still,  economy  is  a  weak 
argument  in  favor  of  the  lecture  course,  especially  for  the 
first-year  student.  To  him  the  lecture  method  is  unknown, 
and  he  flounders  about  a  good  deal  if  he  is  left  to  work 
out  his  own  salvation;  and  then,  too,  just  when  he  needs 
personal  direction  and  particularly  when,  as  a  youth  away 
from  home  for  the  first  time,  he  needs  some  definite  and 
unescapable  task  that  shall  teach  discipline  and  duty  as 
well  as  give  information,  the  lecture  system  gives  him  the 
maximum  of  liberty  with  the  minimimi  of  aid  or  direction. 
These  considerations  strongly  advocate  small  classes  for 
freshmen,  frequent  recitations,  discussions,  tests,  papers  and 
maps,  library  problems  —  in  short,  a  laboratory  system. 
Every  student  should  always  have  at  least  one  course  in 
which  he  is  held  to  rigid  and  exact  performance.  These 
courses  should  be  required,  no  matter  what  the  special 
field  or  period  of  history,  and  should  form  a  sequence  lead- 
ing to  a  degree  and  providing  training  for  a  technical  and 


Oradatlon 
of  courses 
may  be  de- 
termined by 
method  of 
teaching 


Method  of 
teaching  In- 
troductory 
courses  — 
Lecture 
method 


266 


College  Teaching 


Topical 
method  in 
European 
history 


professional  career.  In  addition  to  these  courses,  designed 
to  assure  personal  work  and  supervision,  enough  other,  pre- 
sumably lecture,  courses  should  be  required  to  secure  a 
general  knowledge  of  history.  Beyond  that,  there  are  al- 
ways enough  electives  to  satisfy  any  personal  wish  or  whim 
of  the  student. 

There  is  much  to  be  said,  especially  in  modern  history, 
for  the  topical  treatment  of  institutions.  In  a  very 
specialized  course  a  single  institution  may  be  treated;  but 
even  in  a  general  course,  treating  the  several  human  institu- 
tions as  evolutionary  organisms  seems  preferable  and  is 
more  interesting  than  a  chronological  narrative,  which 
grows  more  inane  the  more  general  the  course.  Courses 
which  come  to  modern  times  can  trace  existing  institutions 
and  their  immediate  antecedents,  thus  giving  an  advan- 
tage that  many  instructors  neglect  from  the  mere  tradition 
that  history  does  not  come  down  to  living  man.  No  primi- 
tive superstition  needs  to  be  dispelled  more  than  this,  if 
history  is  to  maintain  its  hold  in  the  modern  college.  In- 
deed, whenever  possible  —  which  is  always  with  modern 
history  —  a  course  should  start  from  the  present  by  dwell- 
ing on  the  existing  conditions  the  historical  antecedents  of 
which  are  to  be  traced.  If  this  is  done,  the  student  forth- 
with secures  a  vital  interest  and  feels  that  he  is  trying  to 
understand  his  own  rather  than  past  times.  After  this 
preliminary  the  past  can  be  traced  chronologically  or 
topically  as  preferred,  the  textbook  serving  as  a  quarry 
for  data,  the  teacher  seeing  to  it  that  the  change  or  progress 
toward  the  present  condition  is  perceived  and  understood, 
and  furnishing  corroborative  and  analogous  materials  from 
the  history  of  other  nations  and  periods. 

It  is  the  general  practice  of  college  courses  in  history 
to  require  outside  reading.  Though  this  rests  on  the  sound 
ground  that  the  student  ought  to  get  a  large  background  and 
learn  to  know  books  and  writers,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether 
this  aim  is,  in  fact,  achieved.  The  student  often  has  too 
much  work  to  permit  of  much  outside  reading,  and  often 
the  library  is  too  limited  to  give  him  a  good  choice,  or 


The  Teaching  of  History  267 

to  permit  him  to  keep  a  desirable  book  until  he  has  finished 
reading  it.  Unguided  reading  is  almost  certainly  a  failure; 
reading  guided  only  by  putting  a  selected  list  of  books 
before  the  student  is  not  sure  to  be  a  success.  The  in- 
structor ought  from  time  to  time  to  tell  his  class  some- 
thing about  the  books  he  suggests,  and  about  their  authors 
and  their  careers,  viewpoints  and  merits,  as  a  reader  always 
profits  by  knowing  these  things.  As  the  reading  of  snatches  n 
from  collateral  books  is  hardly  profitable,  so  the  perusal 
of  longer  histories  is  often  impossible,  and  generally  con- 
fines the  student  for  a  long  time  to  the  minutiae  of  one 
period  while  the  class  is  going  forward.  In  view  of  these 
difficulties  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  putting  ^^ 
a  large  textbook  into  the  hands  of  a  class,  and  requiring 
a  thorough  reading  and  understanding  of  it,  and  corres- 
pondingly reducing  outside  readings.  If  collateral  read- 
ing is  demanded,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  require  students 
to  read  a  biography  or  a  work  on  some  special  institution 
falling  within  the  scope  of  the  course, —  some  selected 
historical  novel  even, —  for  in  that  way  the  student  reads, 
as  he  will  in  later  life,  something  he  selects  instead  of  a 
required  number  of  pages,  a  specific  thing  is  covered,  an 
author's  acquaintance  is  made,  and  therefore  a  significant  >^ 
test  can  be  conducted.  Furthermore,  as  some  students  will 
buy  special  volumes  of  this  kind,  the  pressure  on  the  library 
is  reduced.  Direct  access  to  reference  shelves  is  always 
recommended.  One  of  our  universities  has  a  system  of 
renting  preferred  books  to  students. 

Tests  on  outside  reading  are  always  difficult,  but  they  Tests  on 
must  be  employed  if  the  reading  is  not  to  become  a  farce,  reading 
By  having  weekly  reading  reports  on  uniform  cards,  one 
can  often  arrange  groups  of  students  who  have  read  the 
same  thing  and  can  therefore  be  tested  by  a  single  question. 
By  extending  this  over  several  weeks  the  majority  of 
students,  even  in  a  large  class,  can  be  tested  with  relatively 
few  questions.  Some  instructors  require  students  to  hand 
in  their  reading  notes,  others  check  up  the  books  the 
students  use  in  the  library,  still  others  have  consultation 


268 


College  Teaching 


Miscellane- 
ous aids  in 
teaching 
history 


The  prob- 
lem of  suit- 
able exami- 
lution 


The  worth 
of  topical 
or  institu- 
tional treat- 
ment 


periods  in  which  they  inquire  into  the  student's  read- 
ing. Quiz  sections,  if  there  are  any,  offer  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  test  collateral  reading. 

Map  making,  coordinated  with  the  recitations  and  so 
designed  as  to  require  more  than  mere  tracing,  is  desir- 
able in  introductory  courses.  The  imaginative  historical 
theme  written  by  the  student  is  employed  —  and  success- 
fully, it  is  declared  —  in  one  college.  A  syllabus  is  highly 
useful  in  the  hands  of  students  in  lecture  courses.  It  can 
be  mimeographed  at  comparatively  slight  expense  for  each 
lecture,  thus  permitting  changes  in  successive  years  —  a 
distinct  advantage  over  the  printed  syllabus. 

How  to  give  a  fair  and  telling  examination  is  the 
college  teacher's  perennial  problem.  The  less  he  teaches 
and  insists  on  facts  and  details,  the  greater  his  quandary. 
A  majority  of  students  incline  to  parrot  what  they  have 
heard,  to  the  dismay  of  the  teacher  who  wants  them  to 
make  the  subject  their  own.  Hence  tests  calling  the 
memory  only  into  play  do  not  satisfy  the  true  teacher  or 
the  thoughtful  student.  At  the  least  there  should  be  some 
questions  requiring  constructive  or  synthetic  thinking  by 
the  student.  Above  all,  the  instructor  of  introductory  work 
should  form  a  first-hand  personal  opinion  of  the  student 
by  requiring  him  to  come  to  the  office  for  consultation. 
Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  the  personal  touch.  Quiz 
masters  are  better  than  no  touch ;  but  they  are  a  poor  sub- 
stitute for  the  small  class  and  direct  contact,  even  if  the  in- 
structor is  not  one  of  the  masters  of  the  profession. 

The  topical  or  institutional  treatment  of  history  has  been 
mentioned  above  as  being  particularly  applicable  to 
modem  history.  If  carefully  worked  out  beforehand  it 
can  be  made  to  embrace  virtually  everything  —  certainly 
everything  significant  —  that  is  contained  either  in  the  text 
or  in  a  chronological  narrative.  To  be  sure,  a  topical 
treatment  of  this  kind  places  more  emphasis  on  the  common 
experiences  of  mankind  than  does  national  history,  and, 
as  some  nations  or  peoples  precede  others  in  a  given  develop- 
ment, history  becomes  continuous  instead  of  fragmentary. 


The  Teaching  of  History  269 

Perhaps,  too,  the  way  certain  matters  are  introduced  into 
"  continuous  "  history  may  appear  forced,  unless  it  be  re- 
membered that  this  impression  is  created  merely  by  its 
dissimilarity  from  the  usual  interpretation,  which  is  just 
as  arbitrary  and  forced  until  one  gets  accustomed  to  it. 

It  will  be  serviceable  in  arranging  a  topical  treatment    cussiflca- 
of  any  period  of  history,  which  shall  show  a  sense  of  his-    cjJtreat-^ 
torical    continuity    and    keep    in    mind    the    fundamental    "«°* 
stimuli  and  causes  of  human  action,  to  note  that  virtually 
all  human  interests  can  be  classified  under  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing  six   heads:    physical,    ecomomic,   social,    religious, 
political,  and  intellectual  (or  cultural).     Though  these  are 
never  wholly  isolated  and  are  always  interactive,  one  or  the 
other  may  be  specially  significant  in  a  given  era,  and  thus 
we  speak  of  a  religious  age,  an  age  of  rationalism,  or  the 
period  of  the  industrial  revolution. 

SUGGESTED   TOPICAL   OUTLINE    OF   MODERN 
EUROPEAN    HISTORY 

To  apply  this  more  specifically  to  modern  European  his- 
tory, there  follows  an  outline  of  topics.  It  is  general  to 
about  1789,  and  more  detailed  for  the  period  since  that  time 
(IV  below),  the  endeavor  being  to  show  how  a  topical  treat- 
ment of  the  development  of  democracy  can  be  made  to  in- 
clude practically  everything  of  significance.  There  are  cer- 
tain cautions  necessary  here:  that  the  outline  is  suggestive 
only,  that  it  does  not  pretend  or  aim  to  be  complete,  that 
specific  data  often  found  in  the  sub-heads  are  to  serve  as 
illustrations  and  not  as  a  complete  statement  of  sub-topics; 
and  that  it  is  in  fact  merely  a  skeleton  which  can  be  extended 
and  amplified  indefinitely  by  insertions. 

I.  Background  of  the  modem  period. 

A.  Economic  and  social  conditions  at  the  close  of 
the  Middle  Age. 

B.  Political  nature  of  feudalism. 

The   governments    of   the    15th   century. 

C.  The  medieval  church. 


270  College  Teaching 

II.  The  development  of  religious  liberty. 

A.  The  Reformation. 

B.  Varieties  of  Protestant  sects,  from  state  churches 
to  individualistic  sects. 

C.  The  Religious  Wars,  and  toleration. 

III.  Absolute  monarchy. 

A.  Dynastic  states. 

B.  Dynastic  wars  and  the  balance  of  power. 

IV.  The  development  of  democracy. 

A.  The  dynastic  feudal  state  (Ancien  Regime). 

1.  Description  of  the  Ancien  Regime. 

2.  Proponents  of  the  Ancien  Regime. 
Dynasties  (divine  right  monarchs). 
Feudal  landlords. 

Higher  clergy  and  state  churches. 

The  army  command   (younger  sons  of  the 

nobility). 

The     schools     (education     for     privileged 

classes  only). 

B.  The  revolutionary  elements. 

,  1.  The  dissatisfied  feudal  serf. 

2.  The  intellectuals,  rationalists,  political  the- 
orists. 

The  "  social   compact."  .  .  Popular  sover- 
eignty. 

3.  Religious  dissenters. 

4.  Industrial  elements. 

a.  The  Industrial  Revolution. 

Resulting  in  exportation,  markets,  and 
laissez-faire  doctrines. 

b.  The      bourgeoisie      (employers).  .  The 
Third  Estate. 

c.  The  proletariat.  .  Unorganized  labor  ele- 
ments. 

C.  The  Revolutionary  Period,  1789-1800. 

1.  Triumph  of  bourgeoisie  over  feudal  aristoc- 


The  Teaching  of  History  271 

racy  in  France,  1789-1791.     Limited  mon- 
archy.    Mirabeau. 

2.  Increasing  influence  and  rise  to  control  of 
France  of  the  Parisian  proletariat.  The 
Republic. .  The  Terror.  .  Robespierre. 

3.  Radiation  of  revolutionary  ideas  to  other 
nations. 

4.  Wars  between  revolutionary  France  and 
monarchical  Europe. 

The  rise  of  Napoleon. 

D.  The  decline  of  the  revolutionary  elements,  1800- 
1815. 

1.  France  converted  from  a  republic  to  an 
empire  by  Napoleon. 

2.  The  Napoleonic  Wars. 

a.  Reveal  Napoleon's  dynastic  ambition. 

6.  Lead  Europe  to  combine  against  him 
and  to  blame  democratic  ideas  for  the 
sorrows  of  the  time. 

c.  Result  in  the  defeat  of  Napoleon  and  the 
triumph  of  anti-democratic  or  reaction- 
ary elements. 

E.  The  fruits  of  the  principle  of  popular  sover- 
eignty during  the  19th  century  (chronologically 
England  and  France  lead  the  other  countries  in 
most  of  these  developments).^ 

1.  Constitutions,  embodying  ever-increasing 
popular  rights  and  powers. 

2.  Extension  of  suffrage.  Political  parties 
and  party  politics. 

3.  The  spirit  of  nationality. 
Independence  of  Greece  and  Belgium. 
Unification  of  Italy  and  Germany. 

^  This  summary  of  the  consequences  of  the  doctrines  of  democracy  is 
allowed  to  break  into  the  topical  development  of  the  outline,  as  it 
gives  a  sort  of  general  introduction  to  tendencies  since  1815.  It  will 
not  escape  the  teacher  that  he  could  treat  history  since  1815  by  tak- 
ing up  in  order  the  topics  given  under  this  heading. 


272  College  Teaching 

National  revivals  in  Poland,  Bulgaria,  Ser- 

via,   Rumania,   Bohemia,  Finland,   Ireland, 

and  elsewhere. 

Pan -Germanism,      Pan-Slavism,      Imperial 

Federation. 

4.  Class  consciousness  and  strife. 

Feudal  aristocratic  class  —  leans  toward 
absolute   monarchy. 

Bourgeoisie  (employing  capitalists)  —  leans 
toward  limited  monarchies  or  republics. 
Labor  —  leans      toward      socialism.     (The 
other  elements  in  the  society  are  slow  in 
developing  a  group  consciousness.) 

5.  Abolition  of  feudal  forms  and  tenures. 
Fight  on  great  landlords.     Encouragement 
of  independent  farmers. 
Emancipation  and   protection  of  peasants: 
France,  1789;  Prussia,  1808;  Austria,  1848; 
Russia,  1861. 

6-  Social,  socialistic,  and  humanitarian  legis- 
lation. 

Factory  acts,  minimum  wage  laws,  indus- 
trial insurance,  old  age  insurance,  labor  ex- 
changes, child  labor  laws,  prison  reform 
acts,  revision  of  penal  codes,  abolition  of 
slavery  and  slave  trade,  government  control 
or  ownership  of  railways,  telephones,  tele- 
graph, and  mails. 

7.  Opposition  to  state  or  national  churches. 
Disestablishment  agitations.  .  Separation  of 
church   and  state. 

8.  Demand  for  free  public  schools  to  replace 
church  or  other  private  schools.  State  lay 
schools  in  England.  .  Suppression  of  teach- 
ing orders  in  France.  .  Kulturkampf  in  Ger- 
many. .  Expulsion  of  Jesuits.  .  Tendency 
toward  compulsory  non-sectarian  education. 

9.  Imperialism. 

Industrial  societies  depend  on  imports,  ex- 


The  Teaching  of  History  273 

ports,  and  markets  as  means  of  keeping 
labor  employed  and  people  prosperous. 
This  means  export  of  capital,  hence, 
plans  for  colonies,  closed  doors,  preferen- 
tial markets,  and  demands  for  the  protec- 
tion of  citizens  abroad  and  political  stabil- 
ity in  backward  areas. 
Partition  of  Africa,  Asia,  and  Near  East. 
10.  Militarism. 

Expansion  and  colonial  acquisition  by  one 
country  exclude  another,  thus  unsettling  the 
balance  of  power.  Therefore  rival  nations 
depend  on  force  and  go  in  for  military 
and  naval  programs. 
F.  The  conflict  between  reactionary  and  bourgeois 
interests,  1815-1848. 

1.  Reactionary  elements  in  control  —  opposed 
to  democracy  and  revolutionary  doctrines. 

a.  Restore  Europe  as  nearly  as  possible  on 
old  lines  at  Vienna,  1815. 

Ignore   liberal   tendencies   and   national 
sentiments. 

b.  Seek  to  maintain  status  quo. 
Metternich.  .  Holy  Alliance. 
Carlsbad  Decrees.  .  Congresses  of  Trop- 
pau,  Laibach,  Verona.  .  Intervention  in 
Naples,   Piedmont,   and   Spain. 
Proposal    to    restore    Latin    America    to 
Monarchy. 

Opposed  by  Great  Britain  in  compliance 
with  bourgeois  interests. 
Monroe   Doctrine. 

c.  Failed  to  prevent: 

Greek  revolution  and  independence  (na- 
tional movement). 

Separation  of  Belgium  from  the  Nether- 
lands  (national), 
rtevival   of   liberal   demands   in   various 


274  College  Teaching 

quarters,    producing    the    revolution    of 
1830  in   France  and  elsewhere. 
2.  The  ascendancy  of  the  bourgeoisie,  1830- 
1848. 

a.  Industrialism  on  the  continent. 

b.  The  bourgeois  (capitalist  employer)  se- 
cures political  power  to  advance  his  in- 
terests. 

Revolution   of   1830. 

Reform  bill  of  1832. 

Legislation    against   labor   organizations 

and  for  tariffs  favoring  trade. 

c.  The  development  of  organized  labor  and 
socialism. 

Legislation  hostile  to  labor.  Chartism. 
Labor  in  France,  Germany,  and  Belgium. 
Spread   of   socialist   doctrines. 

d.  The  Revolution  of  184S. 

Socialist  republican  state  in  France, 
184S. 

The   winning   of   constitutions    in    Prus- 
sia, Austria,  and  elsewhere  —  breach  in 
the  walls  of  reaction. 
G.  The  broadening  base  of  democracy,  1848-1914. 

1.  The  organization  of  labor. 

2.  The  spread  of  socialistic  views  and  of  class 
consciousness.     Karl  Marx. 

3.  The  resistance  of  the  old  aristocratic  class 
and  the  bourgeoisie,  who  gradually  fuse  to 
form  the  conservative  element  in  all  nations. 
Napoleon  III  restores  the  Empire  in  France. 
In  Austria  and  Prussia,  Bismarck  and 
Francis  Joseph  II  retrieve  losses  of  1848. 
Disraeli  and  Conservatives  in  England. 

4.  The  progress  toward  universal  suffrage 
after  1865,  strengthening  political  position 
of  lower  classes. 

Vindication     of     democratic     government 


The  Teaching  of  History  275 

through  triumph  of  the  North  in  the 
United  Stales  gave  impetus  to  democracy 
abroad. 

Electoral  reform  bills  in  Great  Britain, 
1867,  1884,  1885. 

Franco-Prussian  War  and  the  Third  French 
Republic.  .  Universal  suffrage. 
Unification  of  Germany  and  universal  suf- 
frage. 

Russian  Revolution,  1917. 
Woman  suffrage. 
5.  Popular  sovereignty  and  its  consequences. 
a.  Triumph  of  republicans  and  radicals  in 

France  over  monarchists   and   clericals. 
6.  Liberal  ministries  in  United  Kingdom. 

Lloyd  George  Budget.  .  Parliament  Act. 

Social  legislation. 

c.  Growth  of  Social  Democratic  party  in 
Germany. 

Bismarck  and  state  socialism. 

d.  In  recent  times  the  many  divergent  politi- 
cal parties  fall  rather  instinctively  into 
three  groups  which  have  opposing  views 
and  policies  on  almost  every  question, 
and  which  may  be  called: 

Conservatives  (Tories,  aristocrats, 
monarchists.  Junkers,  clericals,  capital- 
ists, imperialists,  militarists) ;  peas- 
ants and  farmers,  being  conservative, 
are  usually  politically  allied  to  this 
group. 

Liberals  (progressives,  democrats, 
labor  parties.  Socialists,  social  demo- 
crats. Dissenters,  anti-imperialists, 
anti-militarists). 

Radicals,  Bolsheviki  or  revolutionists 
seeking  change  of  the  economic  and 
social  order. 


276  College  Teaching 

6.  Effects  of  the  war. 

a.  Extensive  nationalization  and  socializa- 
tion of  industry  and  human  rights  in  all 
belligerent  countries. 

6.  Develops  into  a  "  war  for  democracy," 
and  for  moral  as  opposed  to  materialistic 
aims. 

c.  Culminates   in    an    attempt   to   secure    a 
righteous  and  lasting  peace  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  league  of  nations. 
Edward  Krehbiel 

Leland  Stanford  Junior  University 

Bibliography 

TEXTS 

Andrews,  C.  M.    Historical  Development  of  Modern  Europe.    Two 

vols.     G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1900. 
Hayes,  Carlton  J.  H.    A  Political  and  Social  History  of  Modern 

Europe.    Two  vols.     The  Macmillan  G)mpany,  1916. 
RoBiNSON,  J.   H.,   and   Beard,   C.   A.     The  Development  of  Modern 

Europe.     Two  vols.     Ginn  and  Co.,  1907,  1908. 
ScHEViLL,    Ferdinand.    A    Political    History    of    Modern    Europe. 

Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1907. 

PERIOD    HISTORIES 

Bourne,  Henry  Eldredge.  The  Revolutionary  Period  in  Europe. 
The  Century  Company,  1914. 

Cambridge  Modern  History.  Thirteen  vols,  and  maps.  I.  the  Renais- 
sance; II,  The  Reformation;  III,  The  Wars  of  Religion;  IV,  The 
Thirty  Years'  War;  V,  The  Age  of  Louis  XIV;  VI,  The  Eigh- 
teenth Century;  VII,  The  United  States;  VIII,  The  French  Rev- 
olution; IX,  Napoleon;  X,  The  Restoration;  XI,  The  Growth  of 
Nationalities;  XII,  The  Latest  Age;  XIII,  Genealogical  Tables 
and  Lists  and  General  Index;  also  on  atlas,  in  another  volume. 
Cambridge,  the  University  Press,  1902-1912. 

Hazen,  Charles  Downer.  Europe  since  1815.  Henry  Holt  &  Co., 
1910. 

Lindsay,  T.  M.  A  History  of  the  Reformation.  Two  vols.  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons,  1906-1907. 

Lowell,  E.  J.     The  Eve  of  the  French  Revolution. 

ScHAPiRO,  Jacob  Salwyn.  Modern  and  Contemporary  European  His- 
tory.   Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1918. 


Tlie  Teaching  of  History  277 

Wakeman,  H.  O.  The  Ascendancy  of  France.  The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany, 1894. 

SOURCE    BOOKS 

Anderson,  Frank  Maloy.  The  Constitutions  and  Other  Select  Doc- 
uments Illustrative  of  the  History  of  France,  1789-1901.  H.  W. 
Wilson  Company,  Minneapolis,  1904. 

Fling,  Fred  Morrow.  Source  Problems  of  the  French  Revolution. 
Harper  and  Brothers,  1913. 

Robinson,  J.  H.  Readings  in  European  History.  Two  vols.  Ginn 
and  Co.,  1904. 

Readings  in  European  History.     Abridged   Edition.     Ginn  and 

Co.,  1906. 

Robinson,  J.  H.,  and  Beard,  C.  A.  Readings  in  Modern  European 
History.     Two  vols.     Ginn  and  Co.,  1908. 

Readings    in    Modern    European    History.    Abridge'd    Edition. 


Ginn  and  Co.,  1909. 


ATLASES 


Cambridge  Modern  History.  Volume  of  Maps.  Cambridge,  the  Uni- 
versity Press,  1912. 

Dow,  Earle  W.  Atlas  of  European  History.  Henry  Holt  &  Co., 
1909. 

Droysen.  Gustav.  Allgemeiner  historischer  Kandatlas.  Velhagen 
und  Klasing,  Leipzig,  1886. 

Gardiner,  Samuel  Rawson.  A  School  Atlas  of  English  History. 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  1910. 

Poole,  Reginald  Lane.  Historical  Atlas  of  Modern  Europe  from  the 
Decline  of  the  Roman  Empire.    H.  Frowde,  1896-1902. 

Putzcer,  Friedrich  Wilhelm.  Historischer  Schul-atlas  zur  alten, 
mittleren,  und  neunen  Geschichte.  Velhagen  und  Klasing,  Leip- 
zig, 1910. 

Shepherd,  William  Robert.  Historical  Atlas.  Henry  Holt  &  Co., 
19n. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 

Adams,    Charles    Kendall.    A    Manual    of    Historical    Literature. 

Harper  and  Brothers,  1888. 
Andrews,    Gambrill,    and    Tall.     A    Bibliography    of    History    for 

Schools  and  Libraries.    Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  1911. 

PEDAGOGICAL 

Committee  of  Seven,  American  Historical  Association.     The  Study  of 

History  in  the  Schools.     The  Macmillan  Company,  1899. 
Committee  of  Five,  American  Historical  Association.     The  Study  of 


278  College  Teaching 

History  in  the  Secondary  Schools.  The  Macmillan  Company, 
1911. 

Dunn.  Arthur  William.  The  Social  Studies  in  Secondary  Educa- 
tion. Uepartnient  of  the  Interior,  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin 
No.  28,  1916. 

Johnson,  H.  The  Teaching  of  History  in  Elementary  and  Secondary 
Schools.     1915. 

Robinson,  James  Harvey.  The  New  History;  Essays  Illustrating  the 
Modern  History  Outlook.    The  Macmillan  Company,  1912. 

HISTORICAL   FICTION 

Baker,  E.  A.    History  in  Fiction.    Two  vols.     E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co., 

1907. 
NiELD,  Jonathan.    A  Guide  to  the  Best  Historical  Novels  and  Tales. 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 

PERIODICALS 

The  American  Historical  Review.  Published  by  the  American  His- 
torical Association,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  History  Teacher's  Magazine.  McKinley  Publishing  Company, 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 


XIII 
THE  TEACHING  OF  POLITICAL  SCIENCE 

CERTAIN  phases  of  what  is  known  as  political  science  ^^^^"^°' 
form  to  no  small  degree  the  content  of  courses  in  science 
other  branches  of  study.  The  engineering  schools  in  their 
effort  to  set  forth  the  regulation  of  public  utilities  with 
respect  to  engineering  problems  have  begun  to  offer  courses 
which  deal  extensively  with  politics  and  government.  In 
political  and  constitutional  history,  considerable  attention 
is  given  to  the  organization  and  administration  of  the  vari- 
ous divisions  of  government.  To  a  greater  degree,  how- 
ever, the  allied  departments  of  economics  and  sociology 
have  begun,  in  the  development  of  their  respective  fields, 
to  analyze  matters  which  are  primarily  of  a  political  na- 
ture. Especially  in  what  is  designated  as  applied  eco- 
nomics and  applied  sociology  there  is  to  be  found  material 
a  large  part  of  which  relates  directly  to  the  regulation  and 
administration  of  governmental  affairs.  Thus  in  portions 
of  the  courses  designated  as  labor  problems,  money  and 
banking,  public  finance,  trust  problems,  public  utility  regu- 
lation, problems  in  social  welfare,  and  immigration,  pri- 
mary consideration  is  frequently  given  to  government  ac- 
tivities and  to  the  influences  and  conditions  surrounding 
government  control. 

While  these  courses,  then,  deal  in  part  with  subject  matter 
which  belongs  primarily  to  the  science  of  politics  and 
while  any  comprehensive  survey  of  instruction  in  political 
science  would  include  an  account  of  the  phases  of  the  sub- 
ject presented  in  other  departments,  for  the  present  pur- 
pose it  has  been  advisable  to  limit  the  consideration  of 
the  teaching  of  political  science  to  the  subjects  usually 
offered  under  that  designation.^     Some  attention,  however, 

'  The  courses  usually  given  in  departments  of  political  science  are: 
1.  American  government,   (a)    National,   (6)    State  and  local,    (c) 
Municipal. 

279 


280 


College  Teaching 


Courses 
usually  of- 
fered in 
political 
science 


will  be  given  later  to  the  relation  of  political  science  to 
allied  subjects. 

A  difference  of  opinion  exists  as  to  the  meaning  of  politi- 
cal science,  some  institutions  using  the  term  in  a  broad  sense 
to  embody  courses  offered  in  history,  economics,  politics, 
public  law,  and  sociology,  and  others  giving  the  word  a 
very  narrow  meaning  to  include  a  few  specialized  courses 
in  constitutional  and  administrative  law.  There  is,  never- 
theless, a  strong  tendency  to  have  the  term  "  political  sci- 
ence "  comprise  all  of  the  subjects  which  deal  primarily 
with  the  organization  and  the  administration  of  public 
affairs. 

Through  an  exhaustive  survey  made  by  the  Committee 
on  Instruction  of  the  American  Political  Science  Associa- 

2.  General  political  science. 

3.  Comparative  government. 

4.  English  government. 

5.  International  law. 

6.  Diplomacy. 

7.  Jurisprudence  or  elements  of  law. 

8.  World  politics. 

9.  Commercial  law. 

10.  Roman  law. 

11.  Administrative  law. 

12.  Political  theories  (History  of  political  thought). 

13.  Party  government. 

14.  Colonial  government. 

15.  Legislative  methods  and  legislative  procedure. 

16.  Current  political  problems. 

17.  Municipal  corporations. 

18.  Law  of  officers  and  taxation. 

19.  Seminar. 

20.  Additional  courses,  such  as  the  government  of  foreign  countries, 

the  regulation  of  public  utilities,  and  the  political  and  legal 

status  of  women. 
Cf.  The  Teaching  of  Government,  page  137.  Published  by  the 
Macmillan  Company,  1916.  With  the  permission  of  the  publishers 
some  extracts  from  the  report  of  the  committee  on  instruction  have 
been  used.  The  report  should  be  consulted  for  the  presentation  of 
data  and  for  a  further  consideration  of  some  questions  of  instruc- 
tion which  cannot  be  taken  up  fully  within  the  compass  of  this 
chapter. 


The  Teaching  of  Political  Science     281 

tion,  covering  instruction  in  political  science  in  colleges 
and  universities,  the  subjects  which  are  usually  offered  may 
be  indicated  in  two  groups: 

LEADING    COURSES   FOR   COLLEGES   AND   UNIVERSITIES^ 

(Given    in    order    of    number    of    instruction    hours,    with 
highest  ranked  first.) 

A.  Major  Courses. 

1.  American  government  —  including  national,  state, 

and  local. 

2.  General  political  science  —  mainly  political  theory, 

with  some  comparative  government. 

3.  Comparative    government  —  devoted    chiefly    to    a 

study   of   England,    France,    Germany,    and   the 
United  States. 

4.  International    law. 

5.  Commercial    law. 

6.  Municipal  government. 

7.  Constitutional  law. 

B.  Minor  Courses. 

1.  Jurisprudence,  or  elements  of  law. 

2.  Political  theories. 

3.  Diplomacy. 

4.  State  government. 

5.  Political   parties. 

6.  Government  of  England. 

7.  Legislative  methods  of  procedure. 

8.  Roman   law. 

9.  Regulation  of  social  and  industrial  affairs. 

While  the  purposes  and  objects  of  instruction  in  this  rather 
extensive  group  of  subjects  vary  considerably,  it  seems  de- 
sirable to  analyze  the  chief  objects  in  accordance  with 
which  political  science  courses  are  presented  to  students 
of  collegiate  grade. 

'  Cf.  The  Teaching  of  Government,  page  182. 


282 


College  Teaching 


Aims  of 
instruction 
In  govern- 
ment 


1.  Training 
for  cltizcn- 
sbip 


The  aims  of  instruction  in  government  are  (1)  to  train 
for  citizenship;  (2)  to  prepare  for  professions  such  as  law, 
teaching,  business,  and  journalism;  (3)  to  train  experts  and 
prepare  specialists  for  government  positions;  (4)  to  pro- 
vide facilities  and  lead  students  into  research  material  and 
research  methods.  Each  of  these  aims  affects  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  a  different  class  of  students  and  renders  the 
problem  as  to  methods  of  instruction  correspondingly 
difficult. 

In  a  certain  sense  all  instruction  may  be  looked  upon 
as  giving  training  for  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
of  citizenship,  and  undoubtedly  a  great  deal  of  in- 
struction in  other  subjects  aids  in  the  process  of  citizenship 
training.  Nevertheless,  a  heavy  responsibility  rests  upon 
departments  of  political  science  to  lead  students  into 
the  extensive  literature  on  government  as  well  as  to  in- 
struct them  with  respect  to  the  organizations  and  methods 
by  which  the  political  and  social  affairs  are  being 
conducted.  In  short,  one  of  the  primary  aims  of  govern- 
ment instruction  and  one  which  is  kept  foremost  in  the 
arrangement  of  courses  is  elementary  training  for  the 
average  student  in  the  principles,  the  practices,  and  the 
technique  of  governmental  affairs.  For  such  citizenship 
training,  which  is  usually  given  in  large  elementary  classes, 
a  special  method  of  instruction  and  system  of  procedure 
are  pursued.  It  is  necessary  to  provide  subject  matter 
which  is  informational  in  character,  as  the  lack  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  governments  of  home  and  foreign  countries 
is  ordinarily  appalling,  and  which  will  open  up  by  way 
of  discussion  and  comparison  many  of  the  leading  prob- 
lems of  modern  politics.  More  necessary  and  indispens- 
able is  a  method  of  study  which  will  aid  in  pursuing 
inquiries  along  the  many  and  varied  lines  which  will  de- 
volve upon  the  citizen  performing  his  multifarious  duties 
and  discharging  his  many  responsibilities.  As  many  of 
the  students  will  take  but  a  single  course,  the  opening  up 
to  them  of  the  vast  field  of  government  literature  is  one  of 


The  Teaching  of  Political  Science      283 

the  aims  to  be  constantly  kept  in  mind.  Moreover,  while 
all  of  the  above  are  essential  matters  in  the  elementary 
courses,  the  most  important  consideration  of  all  is  that 
the  teaching  of  politics  and  government  will  have  utterly 
failed  unless  there  are  created  a  desire  and  an  interest  which 
will  lead  into  many  lines  of  investigation  beyond  those 
offered  in  a  single  introductory  course.  The  development 
of  this  interest  and  appreciation  is  the  all-important  ob- 
ject. 

Many  who  enter  the  introductory  courses  in  govern-  2.  Prepara- 
ment  select  the  subject  with  the  idea  of  continuing  their  professions 
preparation  for  professional  life  in  their  chosen  fields. 
Among  the  professions  which  particularly  seek  instruction 
in  government  are  chiefly  law,  teaching,  business,  and 
journalism.  For  these  groups  of  students,  many  of  whom 
continue  the  study  of  the  subject  for  several  years,  often 
going  on  into  the  advanced  courses  in  graduate  depart- 
ments, it  is  recognized  that  beginning  work  which  is  too 
general  and  discursive  may  be  less  useful  than  a  specialized 
course  which  may  be  rounded  out  by  a  series  of  corre- 
lated courses.  Consequently,  there  is  a  question  whether 
the  professional  student,  interested  in  the  study  of  govern- 
ment, should  begin  his  work  under  the  same  conditions 
and  with  the  same  methods  as  the  student  who  does  not 
expect  to  continue  the  subject.  The  number  of  those  who 
are  preparing  for  the  professions  is  often  so  large  as  to 
require  separate  consideration  and  to  afifect  seriously  the 
determination  of  the  method  and  content  of  the  introductory 
course.  This  difficulty  is  obviated  where  professional 
courses  are  provided,  giving  instruction  in  government  and 
citizenship,  as  is  now  the  practice  in  certain  law  schools,  in 
some  departments  of  journalism,  and  in  a  few  engineering 
schools.  For  each  of  the  major  professions  in  which  gov- 
ernment instruction  is  particularly  sought  a  different  type 
of  course  is  desired.  For  the  law  student  comparative 
public  law,  jurisprudence,  and  specialized  government 
courses  in  various  fields  are  usually  demanded.  For  the 
journalist,  general  subjects  dealing  with  specific  countries 


284 


College  Teaching 


3.  Training 
for  public 
service  and 
preparation 
of  special- 
ists for  gov- 
ernment 
positions 


and  with  the  political  practices  of  all  governments  are  re- 
garded of  special  benefit.  For  the  teaching  profession 
the  study  of  some  one  line  and  specialization  in  a  par- 
ticular field  seem  to  be  a  necessity.  Which  is  the  better, 
such  specialized  government  courses  for  professional 
students,  or  a  general  course  for  all  introductory  students, 
is  still  an  undetermined  problem.  The  fact  that  most  of 
the  conditions  and  problems  of  citizenship  are  similar  for 
all  these  groups  and  that  there  is  great  difficulty  in  pro- 
viding separate  instruction  for  each  group  renders  it  neces- 
sary to  provide  an  elementary  course  which  is  adapted 
to  the  needs  and  which  will  serve  the  purpose  of  the  citi- 
zen seeking  a  general  introduction  in  one  course  and 
the  professional  student  who  seeks  entrance  to  advanced 
courses. 

Colleges  and  universities  have  recently  begun  to  give 
special  instruction  for  the  training  of  those  who  desire  to 
enter  the  government  service.  A  few  institutions  are  offer- 
ing courses  and  a  considerable  number  are  beginning  to 
adapt  instruction  which  will  be  of  service  not  only  to 
those  who  anticipate  entrance  into  some  form  of  public 
work,  but  also  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  performing  pub- 
lic service  in  some  department  of  government.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  training  of  specialists  must  in  large  measure  be 
cared  for  by  professional  and  technical  schools,  such  as  the 
provision  for  directors  of  public  health  by  medical 
schools,  the  training  of  sanitary  engineers  by  the  engineer- 
ing schools,  the  training  of  accountants,  statisticians,  and 
financial  experts  by  the  schools  of  commerce  and  finance. 
Nevertheless,  departments  offering  instruction  in  general 
political  subjects  are  expected  to  give  some  consideration 
to  and  to  make  special  arrangements  for  advanced  courses  in 
the  way  of  preparing  those  who  seek  to  enter  the  various 
divisions  of  the  government  service,  such  as  the  consular 
and  diplomatic  affairs,  charitable  and  social  work,  and 
the  administrative  regulation  of  public  utilities,  industrial 
affairs,  and  the  public  welfare.  Through  the  introduction 
of  specialized  courses  in  municipal,  slate,  and  national  ad- 


The  Teaching  of  Political  Science     285 

ministration  it  is  possible  to  prepare  more  adequately  for 

various  branches  of  public  administration. 

Although  research  methods  and  graduate  courses  of  in-   4.  special 

struction   in   political   science  developed   rather   slowly,   a    roMarch 

substantial  beginning  has  been  made  by  the  universities  in   ^^^ 

research 
the  offering  of  advanced   courses  in   which   a   specialized    methods 

study  is  made  of  some  of  the  problems  of  government  and 
the  methods  of  administration.  Through  these  courses  valu- 
able contributions  have  been  made  to  the  historical  and 
comparative  phases  of  the  subject  and  to  some  extent  to  the 
analytical  study  of  government  in  operation.  The  primary 
aim  has  been  to  provide  an  avenue  and  an  opportunity 
for  those  who  look  forward  to  teaching  or  to  entering 
the  field  of  special  research  work  in  politics  and  govern- 
mental affairs.  The  results  of  the  research  work  have  been 
rendered  available  to  government  officials  and  departments 
through  bureaus  of  research  and  other  agencies  devised  to 
aid  in  improving  the  public  service.  Only  a  few  universities 
separate  the  graduate  from  the  undergraduate  students,  and 
as  a  result  the  instruction  cannot  be  of  strictly  graduate 
character  and  quality.  Much  of  the  present  research  is 
done  with  small  groups  of  students  in  a  seminar  where 
personal  direction  is  given  to  investigations  and  where  the 
methods  of  research  are  developed  under  direct  super- 
vision. 

Any  determination  of  the  value  of  a  subject  in  the  value  of 
school  curriculum  is  necessarily  based  upon  the  opinions 
of  individuals  whose  judgment  will  vary  in  large  measure 
according  to  their  respective  training,  influences,  and  predi- 
lections. The  value  of  the  subject  which  is  usually  placed 
first  is  its  usefulness  in  imparting  information.  Much  in- 
struction in  government  is  descriptive  and  informational  in 
character  and  is  offered  primarily  to  increase  the  stock 
of  knowledge  and  to  give  information  with  respect  to  the 
present  and  the  future  interests  of  the  citizen.  While 
this  descriptive  material  has  served  a  useful  purpose,  it 
is  doubtful  whether,  as  in  the  formal  civics  of  the  public 
schools,  the  method  of  imparting  information  has  not  been 


286  College  Teaching 

used  so  extensively  as  to  have  a  detrimental  effect.  Too 
much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  memorization  of  facts 
and  the  temporary  accumulation  of  information  more  or 
less  useful,  and  correspondingly  too  little  to  thinking  on  the 
great  political  and  social  issues  of  the  day. 

When  governments  are  engaging  in  endless  activities 
which  affect  the  welfare  of  society  in  its  social  and 
aesthetic,  as  well  as  political  aspects,  government  instruc- 
tion becomes  increasingly  necessary  and  valuable  as  a 
cultural  study.  The  recent  development  in  European  po- 
litical affairs  has  impressed  upon  the  citizens  of  this  country 
as  never  before  the  results  of  a  profound  ignorance  with  re- 
spect to  conditions  in  foreign  countries.  While  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  affairs  of  the  great  nations  of  the  world  has 
hitherto  appeared  advisable,  it  has  now  come  to  be  regarded 
as  a  necessity.  From  the  standpoint  of  culture  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  institutions  of  one's  own  country  and  of  other 
countries  is  one  of  the  cardinal  elements  of  education  and 
provisions  for  such  instruction  ought  to  be  placed  among  the 
few  primary  topics  in  the  preparation  of  all  educational  pro- 
grams. If  culture  involves  an  understanding  of  the  social 
and  political  conditions  of  the  past  and  present  as  well 
as  some  appreciation  of  the  problems  which  confront  the 
individual  in  his  activities  of  life,  then  the  study  of  both 
history  and  government  must  be  given  a  foremost  rank 
among  the  subjects  now  classified  as  cultural. 

With  respect  to  formal  discipline  government  instruc- 
tion has  been  rated  lower  than  that  of  the  more  exact  sub- 
jects, the  languages  and  mathematics.  While  it  is  true  that 
from  the  standpoint  of  formal  discipline  and  exact  methods 
government  instruction  has  not  measured  up  to  that  of  some 
other  subjects,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  standard- 
ization of  instruction,  and  the  methods  pursued  in  other 
subjects,  have  developed  through  a  long  process  of  years 
to  the  present  effectiveness  in  mental  discipline.  As  the 
study  of  government  becomes  more  specialized,  the  mate- 
rial in  the  field  worked  into  more  concrete  form  for  pur- 
poses of  instruction,  the  methods  better  developed  with  the 


The  2^eachiny  of  Political  Science      287 

formulation  of  standard  plans  and  principles,  the  disci- 
plinary value  of  the  subject  will  be  increased.  The  develop- 
ment now  in  process  is  bringing  about  changes  which  will 
greatly  enhance  not  only  the  usefulness  but  in  a  large 
measure  the  disciplinary  value  of  the  subject. 

Instruction  in  government  is  usually  offered  only  to  Place  in  col- 
students  who  have  acquired  sophomore  standing.  A  few  rjcuium 
institutions  now  give  a  course  in  government  in  the  fresh- 
man year,  and  the  practice  seems  to  be  meeting  with  suc- 
cess. Sentiment  is  growing  in  favor  of  this  plan.  The 
argument  presented  for  this  change  is  that  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  freshman  class  does  not  continue  college 
work,  and  consequently  many  students  have  no  oppor- 
tunity to  become  acquainted  with  the  special  problems  of 
politics  and  government.  To  meet  the  need  of  those  who 
spend  but  one  year  in  college,  it  is  claimed  that  an  intro- 
duction should  be  given  to  the  study  of  government  prob- 
lems. While  there  are  strong  reasons  in  support  of  this 
change,  the  prevailing  sentiment  for  the  present  favors 
the  requirement  of  a  year's  work  in  college  as  a  prerequi- 
site. The  advocates  of  this  arrangement  contend  that  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  most  of  the  high  schools  are  now  giving 
a  half  of  a  year  or  a  year  to  civic  instruction  on  somewhat 
the  same  plan  as  would  be  necessary  in  a  first-year  college 
course,  it  seems  better  from  the  standpoint  of  the  student 
as  well  as  of  the  department  to  defer  the  introductory 
course  until  better  methods  of  study  and  greater  maturity 
of  mind  are  acquired. 

Sophomore  standing  is  the  only  prerequisite  for  the  ele- 
mentary course  except  in  a  few  institutions  where  the  selec- 
tion of  a  course  in  history  in  the  freshman  year  is  re- 
quired. A  few  colleges  are  offering  to  freshmen  an  in- 
troductory course  in  the  social  sciences,  comprising  mainly 
some  elementary  material  from  economics,  sociology,  and 
political  science.  While  there  are  some  advantages  in  the 
effort  to  give  a  general  introduction  to  the  social  sciences, 
no  practicable  content  or  method  for  such  a  course  has 
yet  been  prepared.     Moreover,  it  seems  likely  now  that  such 


288  College  Teaching 

a  general  introduction  will  be  attempted  either  in  the 
junior  or  in  the  senior  high  school.  For  advanced  work 
in  the  senior  high  school  and  for  the  introductory  college 
course  reason  and  practice  both  favor  a  separation  of 
these  subjects,  with  close  correlation  and  constant  consider- 
ation of  the  interrelations. 

Theintro-  jj  jg   customary  to   introduce  students   to   the  study   of 

ductory  •'  ... 

course  government  through  a  general  course  m  American  govern- 

ment, dealing  briefly  with  national,  state,  and  local  insti- 
tutions. Other  subjects,  such  as  comparative  government, 
—  including  a  consideration  of  some  representative  foreign 
countries  along  with  American  government, —  an  introduc- 
toVy  course  in  political  science,  and  international  law,  are 
sometimes  used  as  basic  courses  to  introduce  students  to 
subsequent  work.  The  general  practice  in  the  introductory 
course  seems  to  be  approaching  a  standard  in  which  either 
American  government  is  made  the  basis  of  study,  with 
comparisons  from  European  practices  and  methods,  or  Euro- 
pean governments  are  studied,  with  attention  by  way  of 
comparison  to  the  American  system  of  government.  The 
Committee  of  Seven  of  the  American  Political  Science  Asso- 
ciation offered  the  following  suggestions  relative  to  the 
introductory  course,  which  it  seems  well  to  quote  in  full. 
The  Committee  recommended  that : 

American  government  be  taken  as  the  basis  for  the  introductory 
course  because  it  is  convinced  that  there  is  an  imperative  need  for  a 
more  thorough  study  of  American  institutions,  because  the  opportunity 
for  this  study  is  not  now  offered  in  any  but  a  few  of  the  best  sec- 
ondary schools,  and  because  it  is  exceedingly  important  that  the 
attention  of  an  undergraduate  be  directed  early  in  his  course  to  a 
vital  personal  interest  in  his  own  government,  national,  state,  and 
local.  Instruction  in  political  science  is  rarely  giver)  until  the  second 
or  third  year  of  the  college  work,  and  thus  unless  American  govern- 
ment is  selected  for  the  first  course  only  a  small  percentage  of  stu- 
dents receive  encouragement  and  direction  in  the  study  of  political 
affairs  with  which  they  will  constantly  be  expected  to  deal  in  their 
ordinary  relations  as  citizens.  But  the  committee  believes  that  this 
study  of  American  government  can  be  distinctly  vitalized  by  the  intro- 
duction of  such  comparisons  with  European  practices  and  forms  as 
will  supply  the  student  with  a   broader  basis  of  philosophical  con- 


The  Treadling  of  Political  Science      289 

elusions  as  to  constitutional  development  and  administrative  practices. 
The  Committee  is  of  the  opinion  that  despite  the  very  marked  in- 
crease of  courses  in  American  government  within  the  past  few  years, 
one  of  the  immediate  needs  is  the  further  extension  and  enlargement 
of  these  courses.  In  only  a  few  institutions  is  enough  time  given  to 
the  subject  to  permit  anything  more  than  the  most  cursory  survey  of 
the  various  features  of  the  government,  and  almost  invariably  state 
and  local  government  suffer  in  the  cutting  process  which  is  necessary. 
About  seventy  institutions  only  give  courses  in  which  state  and  local 
government  are  the  basis  of  special  study.  In  order  that  stale  and 
local  government  shall  be  given  more  consideration,  and  in  order  that 
judicial  procedure  and  administrative  methods  shall  receive  more  than 
passing  notice,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  time  allotted  to 
American  government  be  increased.  Nothing  short  of  a  full  year  of 
at  least  three  hours  a  week  gives  the  necessary  time  and  opportunity  to 
do  anything  like  full  justice  to  the  national,  state,  and  local  units.i 

Because  of  the  fact  that  only  a  small  percentage  of  the 
student  body  elects  this  course  under  present  conditions, 
and  because  the  majority  of  those  who  do  elect  it  never 
have  an  opportunity  to  continue  the  study  of  government, 
it  is  thought  that  the  selection  of  American  government 
for  the  beginning  subject  has  the  tendency  to  foster  pro- 
vincialism. When  but  one  course  is  taken  this  one,  it  is 
contended,  should  deal  with  foreign  governments,  to  supply 
a  broader  basis  for  the  comparison  of  political  institu- 
tions. As  the  study  of  government  is  introduced  in  the 
grades  and  thorough  and  effective  instruction  is  offered 
in  the  high  school,  it  will  become  increasingly  practicable 
to  introduce  the  comparative  method  in  introductory  courses. 

One  of  the  difficulties  in  the  instruction  in  political  sci-  Sequence 
ence  which  has  received  less  consideration  than  it  deserves 
is  that  of  the  sequence  of  courses.  In  the  determination 
of  sequence  it  is  customary  to  have  an  introductory  course, 
such  as  American  government,  European  government,  or 
political  theory,  and  to  make  this  subject  a  prerequisite  for 
all  advanced  courses.  As  the  introductory  course  requires 
sophomore  standing,  it  renders  entrance  into  advanced 
courses  open   only  to   students  of  junior   rank   or   above. 

^  The  Teaching  of  Government,  pages  206  207. 


of  courses 


290  College  Teuehing 

After  passing  the  first  course,  there  are  open  for  election 
a  number  of  subjects,  mainly  along  specialized  lines.  This 
condition  is  to  be  found,  particularly,  in  the  large  univer- 
sities, where  a  group  of  instructors  offer  specialized  work, 
with  either  little  or  no  advice  to  students  as  to  the  proper 
arrangement  or  sequence  of  courses.  The  ordinary  classi- 
fication is  into  three  groups:  (1)  an  elementary  course, 
prerequisite  for  advanced  instruction;  (2)  courses  for 
graduate  and  undergraduate  students,  seldom  arranged  on 
a  basis  of  sequence  or  logical  order;  — the  lack  of  sequence 
is  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  after  taking  elementary 
work  the  student  in  government  frequently  wishes  to 
specialize  in  the  field  of  federal  government,  or  of  state 
government,  or  of  international  law,  or  possibly  of  political 
theory;  (3)  courses  for  graduate  students,  which  are  in- 
tended primarily  for  investigation  and  research.  Students 
who  specialize  in  government  are  generally  advised  by  the 
head  of  the  department  or  the  professor  under  whom  their 
work  is  directed,  as  to  the  proper  arrangement  and  correla- 
tion of  courses.  It  is,  however,  questionable  whether  some 
plan  of  sequence  more  definitely  outlined  than  that  now 
to  be  found  in  most  catalogs  ought  not  to  be  prepared 
in  advance  for  the  consideration  of  those  who  look  for- 
ward to  specializing  in  political  science.  Such  an  ar- 
rangement of  sequence  has  been  prepared  by  the  depart- 
ment of  political  science  of  the  University  of  Chicago, 
which  divides  its  work  into  (1)  elementary,  (2)  inter- 
mediate, (3)  advanced  —  the  advanced  courses  being  sub- 
divided into  (a)  theory,  (h)  constitutional  relations,  (c) 
public  administration,  and  id)  law.  Suggestions  are 
offered  as  to  the  principal  and  secondary  sequences  for 
various   groups   of   students. 

The  sequence  of  courses  could  be  better  arranged  pro- 
vided a  freshman  course  were  offered.  A  freshman  course 
in  American  government  could  be  given,  with  some  atten- 
tion by  way  of  comparison  to  European  methods  and 
practices,  and  followed  by  an  intermediate  course  dealing 
with  some  select  foreign  governments,  again  using  the  com- 


The  Teaching  of  Political  Science      291 

parative  method  and  viewpoint.  Two  courses  of  this 
character  would  offer  a  greater  opportunity  to  give  the  in- 
struction now  desired  from  the  standpoint  of  the  average 
student  and  citizen,  and  would  serve  as  a  better  basis  for 
advanced  instruction  than  the  single  course  now  custom- 
arily offered  either  in  American  or  comparative  govern- 
ment. After  taking  the  elementary  courses  the  student 
could  then  be  allowed  to  select  from  a  group  of  subjects 
in  one  of  the  various  lines,  according  to  the  special  field 
in  which  he  is  interested.  In  short,  the  arrangement  of 
the  sequence  of  courses  will  necessarily  be  unsatisfactory 
as  long  as  the  elementary  course  is  offered  only  to  those 
of  at  least  sophomore  rank,  a  practice  which  unfortunately 
necessitates  in  many  cases  the  beginning  of  the  work  in  the 
junior  or  senior  year.  It  will  be  necessary  to  introduce 
the  subject  earlier  in  the  curriculum,  in  order  to  arrange 
such  a  sequence  as  would  seem  desirable  from  the  stand- 
point of  thorough  and  effective  instruction. 

Methods  of  instruction  ^  vary  according  to  the  size  of  JJs^"*^',,"^ 
the  institution  and  the  number  in  the  classes.  In  the 
preliminary  courses  the  system  of  informal  lectures  is  com- 
bined with  recitations,  discussions,  reports,  and  quizzes. 
The  students  in  the  advanced  courses  are  obliged  to  carry 
on  independent  work  under  the  supervision  of  the  in- 
structor. For  seniors  and  graduate  students  the  seminar 
has  been  found  most  satisfactory  in  developing  a  keen  in- 
terest in  the  problems  of  politics.  Unfortunately,  where 
the  classes  are  small  and  the  time  is  limited,  it  is  custom- 
ary to  rely  largely  on  textbooks  and  recitations,  with  a 
moderate  amount  of  special  readings  and  occasional  class 
reports.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  courses  in  government 
have  been  improved  recently  by  the  appearance  of  good 
textbooks.  American  and  European  governments  are  now 
presented  in  texts  which  have  proved  satisfactory  and 
which  have  aided  in  the  development  of  standard  courses 
for    these    elementary    subjects.     Then,    too,    interest    has 

^  The  discussion  of  methods  follows  in  part  the  Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Instruction,  pages  192- 194. 


292  College  Teaching 

been  aroused  and  better  results  obtained  through  the  use  of 
texts  and  manuals  dealing  with  the  actual  work  and  the 
problems  of  government.  The  neglected  fields  of  state  gov- 
ernment and  administrative  practices  are  just  beginning  to 
receive  attention. 

One  method  of  government  instruction,  and  a  very 
valuable  one,  is  to  encourage  the  examination  of  evidence 
and  to  consider  different  viewpoints  on  public  questions, 
with  the  purpose  of  forming  judgments  based  on  the  facts. 
For  this  purpose  extensive  reading  and  frequent  reports 
are  necessary  to  check  up  the  work  completed.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  keep  in  constant  touch  with  the  amount  of  work 
and  the  methods  of  study  or  investigation  by  means  of  dis- 
cussions in  small  sections  for  one  or  two  hours  each  week 
and  by  the  use  of  the  problem  sheet. 

In  the  courses  offered  in  departments  of  government  in 
such  subjects  as  constitutional  law,  international  law,  com- 
mercial law,  and  to  some  extent  in  courses  in  juris- 
prudence and  government  regulation  of  public  utilities 
and  social  welfare,  the  case  method  has  been  adopted 
quite  extensively.  This  method  has  been  sufficiently 
tried  and  its  effectiveness  has  been  demonstrated  in 
the  teaching  of  law,  so  that  nothing  need  be  said 
in  its  defense.  The  introduction  of  the  case  method  in 
political  science  and  public  law  has  undoubtedly  im- 
proved the  teaching  of  certain  phases  of  these  subjects. 
That  the  use  of  cases  and  extracts  may  be  carried  to  an 
extreme  which  is  detrimental  is  becoming  apparent,  for 
opinions  and  data  change  so  rapidly  that  any  collection 
of  cases  and  materials  is  out  of  date  before  it  issues  from 
the  press.  Moreover,  the  use  of  such  collections  en- 
courages the  reliance  on  secondary  sources  and  secondary 
material,  a  tendency  which  ought  to  be  discouraged. 
Every  encouragement  and  advantage  should  be  given  to 
have  students  and  investigators  in  government  deal  with 
original  rather  than  secondary  sources. 

There  is,  in  addition  to  the  use  of  textbooks,  lectures, 
extensive   reference   reading,  case  books,   and  the  writing 


The  Teaching  of  Political  Science     293 


of  papers,  a  tendency  to  introduce  the  problem  method  of 
instruction  and  to  encourage  field  work,  observation,  and, 
so  far  as  practicable,  a  first-hand  study  of  government  func- 
tions and  activities. 

Another  line  in  which  the  study  of  government  is  under- 
going considerable  modification  is  the  emphasis  placed  on 
administration  and  administrative  practices.  While  special 
attention  heretofore  has  been  given  either  to  the  history  of 
politics  and  political  institutions  or  to  political  theories  and 
principles,  the  tendency  is  now  to  give  import  to  political 
practices  and  the  methods  pursued  in  carrying  on  govern- 
ment divisions  and  departments.  The  introduction  of 
courses  in  the  principles  of  administration,  with  the  con- 
sideration of  problems  in  connection  with  public  adminis- 
tration in  national,  state,  and  local  affairs,  is  tending  to 
modify  the  content  as  well  as  the  methods  of  the  teach- 
ing of  government.  New  methods  and  a  new  content  are 
changing  the  emphasis  from  the  formal,  theoretical,  and 
historical  study  of  government  and  turning  attention  to  the 
practical  phases  and  to  the  technique  of  administration. 
As  a  result  of  this  change  and  through  the  work  which  is 
being  undertaken  by  bureaus  of  reference  and  research,  in- 
struction is  brought  much  closer  to  public  officers  and 
greater  service  is  rendered  in  a  practical  way  to  govern- 
ment administration. 

Among  the  difficulties  and  unsolved  problems  in  the 
teaching  of  political  science  are,  first,  the  beginning  course; 
second,  the  relation  of  courses  in  government  to  economics, 
sociology,  history,  and  law;  third,  the  extent  to  which  field 
investigation  and  the  problem  method  can  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage in  offering  instruction  and  the  development  of 
new  standards  and  of  new  tests  which  are  applicable  to 
these  methods;  fourth,  the  introduction  of  the  scientific 
method. 

While  the  elementary  course  in  government  is  now 
usually  American  government  and  is,  as  a  rule,  offered  to 
sophomores,  both  the  content  and  the  present  position  of 
the  course  in  the  curriculum  are  matters  on  which  there  is 


Some  un- 
solved prob- 
lems 


1.  The  intro- 
ductory 
course 


294  College  Teaching 

considerable  difference  of  opinion.  Where  the  subject 
matter  now  offered  to  beginning  students  is  comprised  of 
comparative  material  selected  from  a  number  of  modern 
governments,  it  is  contended  that  this  arrangement  is  prefer- 
able to  confining  attention  to  American  institutions  with 
which  there  is  at  least  general  but  often  vague  familiar- 
ity. If  provision  is  made  in  the  high  school,  by  which  the 
majority  of  those  who  enter  the  university  have  had  a 
good  course  in  American  government,  there  seems  to  be  a 
strong  presumption  that  the  beginners'  course  should  be  de- 
voted to  comparative  government.  It  is  quite  probable 
that  the  introductory  course  will  cease  to  be  confined  to  a 
distinct  and  separate  study  of  either  foreign  governments 
or  of  American  government  and  that  the  most  satisfactory 
course  will  be  the  development  of  one  in  which  main 
emphasis  is  given  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  fields  and 
in  which  constant  and  frequent  comparisons  will  be  made 
for  purposes  of  emphasis,  discussion,  and  the  considera- 
tion of  government  issues  and  problems.  In  some  cases  it 
is  undoubtedly  true  that  emphasis  should  be  given  to 
foreign  governments,  and  as  the  high  schools  improve  their 
instruction  in  our  local  institutions,  national  and  state,  it 
will  become  increasingly  necessary  in  colleges  to  turn  at- 
tention to  the  study  of  foreign  governments  in  the  beginners' 
course. 

There  appears  to  be  a  desire  to  introduce  government 
into  the  freshman  year,  and  it  is  likely  that  provision  will 
be  made  to  begin  the  study  of  the  subject  in  the  first  college 
year,  thereby  rendering  it  possible  for  those  who  enter  col- 
lege to  profit  by  a  year's  work  and  to  give  an  earlier  start 
to  those  who  wish  to  specialize. 

Another  difficulty  in  connection  with  the  introductory 
course  which  is  still  not  clearly  determined  is  the  time 
and  attention  which  may  be  given  to  lectures,  to  discus- 
sions, to  the  writing  of  papers  or  theses,  to  the  investigation 
and  report  on  problems,  and  the  extent  to  which  use  may 
be  made  of  some  of  the  practical  devices  such  as  field 
investigation.     There  is  a  general  belief  that  in   the  ele- 


The  Teaching  of  Political  Science      295 

mentary  course  only  a  slight  use  may  be  made  of  practical 
methods,  but  that  it  is  necessary  to  begin  these  methods 
in  the  elementary  years  and  to  render  instruction  practical 
and  concrete  to  a  larger  extent  than  is  now  done,  by  means 
of  problems  and  the  discussion  of  matters  of  direct  interest 
to  all  citizens.  No  doubt  as  the  problem  method  and  field 
study  are  more  definitely  systematized  and  the  ways  of 
supervision  and  checking  up  the  work  developed,  these  de- 
vices will  be  used  much  more  extensively.  The  preparation 
of  problem  sheets  and  of  guides  to  the  selection  of  con- 
crete material  gives  promise  of  a  more  general  and  ef- 
fective use  of  the  problem  method. 

The  proper  relationship  and  correlation  of  instruction  in   2.  Eeiation 
government  with  that  of  other  subjects  has  not  yet  been   tioningov- 

determined    satisfactorily.     The    matter    of    correlation    is    ornmentto 
111-  111  •     1  •  r  1       °*J»«r  *o^ 

slowly  bemg  worked  out  along  certam  hnes;  tor  example,    jects 

the  relationship  between  courses  in  history  and  in  gov- 
ernment is  coming  to  be  much  better  defined.  Such  sub- 
jects as  constitutional  history  and  the  development  of 
modern  governments  are  being  treated  almost  entirely  in  de- 
partments of  history,  and  less  attention  is  being  given  to 
the  historical  development  of  institutions  in  departments  of 
political  science.  As  long  as  it  is  impossible  to  make 
certain  history  courses  prerequisites  before  beginning  the 
study  of  government,  it  becomes  necessary  to  give  some  at- 
tention in  political  science  to  the  historical  development  of 
political  institutions.  By  correlation  and  by  proper  ar- 
rangement of  courses,  however,  the  necessity  of  introduc- 
ing government  courses  with  historical  introductions  ought 
to  be  considerably  reduced. 

The  relation  between  work  in  government  and  in 
economics  and  sociology  is  a  more  difficult  problem  and 
one  which  has  not  as  yet  been  satisfactorily  adjusted. 
Some  of  the  courses  given  in  departments  of  economics 
and  sociology  deal  to  a  considerable  extent  with  the  regu- 
lation of  public  affairs.  In  these  courses,  including  public 
finance,  the  regulation  of  public  utilities,  the  regulation  of 
trusts,  labor  organizations,  and  the  administration  and  regu- 


296  College  Teaching 

lation  of  social  and  industrial  affairs,  a  more  definite 
correlation  between  political  science  and  so-called  applied 
economics  and  applied  sociology  must  be  made.  While  it 
is  undoubtedly  necessary  for  the  economist  and  the  sociolo- 
gist to  deal  with  government  regulation  of  economic  and 
social  affairs,  and  while  it  is  very  desirable  that  these  de- 
partments should  emphasize  the  practical  and  applied 
phases  of  their  subjects,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  courses 
which  are,  to  a  large  extent,  comprised  of  government  in- 
struction should  be  given  under  the  direction  of  the  depart- 
ment of  political  science,  or,  at  least,  in  an  arrangement 
of  definite  cooperation  therewith.  There  is  no  reason  why 
in  such  a  subject  as  the  regulation  of  public  utilities  a  por- 
tion of  the  course  might  not  be  given  in  the  department  of 
economics  and  a  portion  in  the  department  of  government. 
Or  it  may  be  better,  perhaps,  for  a  course  to  be  arranged 
in  the  regulation  of  public  utilities,  continuing  through- 
out the  year,  in  which  the  professors  of  economics,  govern- 
ment, commerce,  finance,  and  engineering  participate  in  the 
presentation  of  various  phases  of  the  same  subject.  At  all 
events,  the  present  separation  into  different  departments 
of  the  subject  matter  of  government  regulation  of  such 
affairs  as  public  utilities,  taxation,  and  social  welfare  regu- 
lation is,  to  say  the  least,  not  producing  the  best  results. 

The  relation  of  government  courses  to  instruction  in  law 
is  likewise  a  partially  unsolved  problem.  A  few  years  ago, 
when  the  curricula  of  law  schools  dealt  with  matters  of  law 
and  procedure  in  which  only  the  practitioner  was  interested, 
it  became  necessary  to  introduce  the  study  of  public  law 
in  departments  of  government  and  political  science.  Thus 
we  find  courses  in  international  law,  constitutional  law, 
Roman  law,  and  elements  of  law  and  jurisprudence  being 
offered  in  large  part  in  departments  of  political  science. 
The  recent  changes  in  law  school  curricula,  however,  by 
which  many  of  these  subjects  are  now  offered  in  the  law 
school  and  in  some  cases  are  offered  to  qualified  under- 
graduate students,  render  the  situation  somewhat  more 
difficult  to  adjust.     There  is  a  tendency  to  introduce  these 


The  Teaching  of  Political  Science     297 

courses  into  the  law  school  for  law  students  and  to  offer  a 
similar  course  in  the  department  of  government  for  under- 
graduates and  graduates.  The  problem  has  been  further 
complicated  by  the  provision  in  some  of  the  leading  law 
schools  of  a  fourth  year,  in  which  the  dominant  courses 
relate  to  public  and  international  law,  legal  history  and 
foreign  law,  jurisprudence  and  legislative  problems.^  As 
these  courses  become  entirely  legal  in  nature  and  content 
and  require  a  background  of  three  years  of  law,  it  becomes 
practically  impossible  for  any  but  law  students  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  them.  With  the  prospect  of  a  permanent  ar- 
rangement for  a  fourth  year  of  law  devoted  primarily  to 
subjects  formerly  given  in  departments  of  political  science, 
it  seems  to  be  necessary  to  provide  instruction  in  constitu- 
tional law  and  international  law,  at  least,  for  those  ad- 
vanced students  in  political  science  who  seek  this  instruc- 
tion but  who  do  not  expect  to  take  the  private  law  in- 
struction required  to  admit  them  to  a  fourth-year  law  class. 
The  preferable  arrangement  may  prove  to  be  one  in  which 
a  thorough  course  is  offered  which  will  be  open  to  qualified 
seniors  and  graduate  students  and  to  law  students,  thus 
avoiding  the  duplication  which  is  now  characteristic  of  in- 
struction in  law  and  the  public  law  phases  of  government. 
In  this  matter,  as  in  the  relation  of  economics  and  sociology, 
the  most  appropriate  and  effective  adjustment  for  coopera- 
tion remains  to  be  formulated. 

As  the  criticism  of  eminent  specialists  in  government  and  3.  Problem 
politics  has  impressed  upon  instructors  the  idea  that  too  instruction 
large  a  portion  of  the  teaching  of  the  subject  is  theoreti- 
cal, treating  of  what  ought  to  be  rather  than  of  what 
actually  occurs,  dealing  with  facts  only  on  a  limited 
scale  and  with  superficial  attention  to  actual  conditions, 
there  has  developed  the  necessity  of  revising  the  methods 
of  instruction.  This  revision  is  being  made  largely  in  the 
introduction  of  field  investigation,  observation  of  govern- 

^  See  especially  article  by  Ernst  Freund  on  "  Correlation  of  Work  for 
Higher  Degrees  in  Graduate  School  and  Law  School,"  Vol.  XI,  Illi- 
nois Law  Revietv,  page  301. 


298 


College  Teaching 


ment  activities,  and  the  problem  and  research  methods. 
The  prevailing  practice  of  the  teaching  of  politics,  which 
involves  lectures,  recitations,  and  the  reading  and  writing 
of  theses,  with  a  considerable  amount  of  supplementary 
work,  is  being  revised  by  means  of  a  research  and  refer- 
ence division,  by  the  constant  use  of  field  investigation 
and  by  the  study  of  governmental  problems.  The  difficulty 
with  all  these  devices  lies  in  the  indefinite  and  vague  way  in 
which  so  much  of  this  work  must  be  done.  For  the  present, 
in  only  a  few  instances,  such  as  the  New  York  Bureau  of 
Municipal  Research,  has  the  technique  for  field  investiga- 
tion and  the  research  method  been  eflfectively  developed. 
One  of  the  chief  lines  for  the  improvement  of  the  teaching 
of  government  is  in  the  standardization  and  systematiza- 
tion  of  the  problem  method  and  its  more  extensive  use  in 
the  elementary  and  advanced  government  instruction. 

In  the  past  and  to  a  great  extent  at  the  present  time 
that  part  of  the  study  of  government  which  has  to  do  with 
political  theory  and  with  a  descriptive  and  historical  ac- 
count of  government  has  comprised  the  greater  portion  of 
what  is  usually  designated  as  political  science.  The  na- 
ture of  these  studies  is  such  as  to  render  inapplicable 
the  use  of  the  scientific  method.  If  the  study  of  govern- 
ment is  to  be  developed  as  a  science  in  the  true  sense, 
then  the  above  subjects  must  be  supplemented  by  exhaustive 
inductive  studies  and  research  in  the  actual  operation  of 
government.  Such  methods  are  now  being  employed  in 
the  examination  of  government  records  and  the  comparison 
of  administrative  practices.  And  there  is  being  developed 
also  a  science  of  government  based  on  the  practices  and 
the  technique  of  public  administration. 

This  science  now  finds  its  exemplification  in  some  of  the 
exceptional  work  of  the  graduate  schools.  Unfortunately, 
the  connection  between  these  schools  and  the  government 
departments  has  not  been  such  as  to  secure  the  best  re- 
sults. Moreover,  departments  of  political  science  are  not 
now  doing  their  part  to  place  the  results  of  scientific  in- 
vestigations at  the  disposal   of  government  officials.     The 


The  Teaching  of  Political  Science      299 

introduction  of  courses  in  extension  departments  and  even- 
ing classes  has  in  part  met  this  deficiency.  But  much  re- 
mains to  be  done  to  render  through  the  department  of 
political  science  effective  service  in  the  practical  operation 
of  government.  With  the  introduction  of  the  problem 
method  and  field  investigation  in  the  elementary  instruc- 
tion, so  far  as  seems  feasible,  with  the  development  of 
standard  methods  and  the  technique  of  research  for  ad- 
vanced instruction,  the  teaching  of  government  will  be 
rendered  not  only  more  valuable  to  the  citizen,  but  colleges 
and  universities  may  render  aid  to  government  officials  and 
citizens  interested  in  social  and  political  affairs. 

A  significant  development  as  an  aid  for  research  and  for 
rendering  more  effective  public  service  has  come  in  the 
establishment  of  bureaus  of  government  research.  The 
method  of  investigation  and  research  which  has  been  ap- 
plied to  the  problems  of  government  by  private  organiza- 
tions has  been  found  applicable  to  the  handling  of  research 
material  in  the  universities.  Through  a  bureau  of  this 
character  recent  publications  and  ephemeral  material  may 
be  collected  for  the  use  of  advanced  students,  digests  may 
be  prepared  on  topics  of  special  interest  to  legislators  and 
administrators,  and  publications  of  particular  interest  to  the 
citizens  may  be  issued.  Such  a  bureau  serves  as  a  gov- 
ernment laboratory  for  the  university  and  can  be  placed 
at  the  service  of  public  officials  and  others  who  desire  to  use 
a  reference  department  in  securing  reliable  data  on  govern- 
mental affairs.  Thus  it  is  coming  to  be  realized  that  re- 
search in  government  may  be  encouraged  and  the  resources 
of  higher  institutions  may  be  so  organized  as  to  render  a 
distinct  and  much  appreciated  public  service. 

Charles  Grove  Haines 

University  of  Texas 


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BouRCUEiL,  E.  Instruction  civique.  Paris:  F.  Nathan,  1910;  pages 
223. 

Bryce,  James.  The  Hindrances  to  Good  Citizenship.  Yale  Univer- 
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Drown,  Thomas  M.  Instruction  in  Municipal  Government  in  Ameri- 
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Fairlie,  John  A.  Instruction  in  Municipal  Government.  National 
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ate School  and  Law  School.  Illinois  Law  Review,  Vol.  XI,  page 
301. 

Hall,  G.  Stanley.  Civic  Education.  Educational  Problems,  New 
York,  1911,  Vol.  II,  pages  667-682. 

Hill,  David  J.  A  Plan  for  a  School  of  the  Political  Sciences.  1907, 
pages  34. 

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ScHAPER,  W.  A.  What  Do  Students  Know  about  American  govern- 
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Education  in  Political  Science.     Baltimore,  pages  51. 

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Wilson,  Wooorow.  The  Study  of  Politics.  An  Old  Master  and 
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Wolfe,  A.  B.  Shall  We  Have  an  Introductory  Course  in  Social  Sci- 
ences?    Journal  of  Political  Economy,  Vol.  XXII,  pages  2.53-267. 

Young,  James  T.  University  Instruction  in  Municipal  Government. 
National  Municipal  League:  Proceedings.  Rochester,  1901; 
pages  226-234. 


T' 


XIV 
THE  TEACHING  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

'HE  study  of  philosophy  covers  such  a  wide  range  of 
subjects  that  it  is  difficult  to  generalize  in  attempting 
to  answer  the  basal  questions  which  call  for  considera- 
tion in  a  book  like  this.  In  the  great  European  universi- 
ties it  includes  psychology,  logic,  ethics,  aesthetics,  epistem- 
ology,  metaphysics,  the  history  of  philosophy,  and  some- 
times even  the  philosophy  of  religion,  the  philosophy  of 
history,  the  philosophy  of  law,  and  the  philosophy  of  the 
State.  Although  special  courses  may  not  be  offered  in 
every  one  of  these  fields  in  our  American  colleges,  their 
philosophical  territory  is  sufficiently  extensive  and  the 
separate  provinces  sufficiently  unlike  to  baffle  any  one  seek- 
ing to  describe  the  educational  aims  and  methods  of  the 
domain  as  a  whole.  In  order,  therefore,  to  do  full  justice 
to  our  task  it  would  be  necessary  to  treat  each  one  of  the 
various  philosophical  branches  separately  and  to  expand 
the  space  assigned  to  us  into  a  fair-sized  volume.  Since 
this  is  not  to  be  thought  of,  we  shall  have  to  confine  our- 
selves to  a  consideration  of  the  traits  common  to  all  the 
subjects,  without*  forgetting,  however,  such  differences  as 
may  call  for  different  educational  treatment. 
The  unified         j}^g   difficulty   of   which   we   have   spoken   becomes   less 

coUege  •'  *^  ,  , 

course  In  formidable  when  the  teacher  of  the  traditional  philosophical 
philosophy  subjects  regards  them  not  as  so  many  independent  and  dis- 
connected fields  of  study,  but  as  parts  of  a  larger  whole 
held  together  by  some  central  idea.  The  great  systematic 
thinkers,  from  Plato  down  to  Herbert  Spencer,  have  aimed 
at  "  completely  unified  knowledge "  and  have  sought  to 
bring  order  and  coherence  into  what  may  seem  to  the  cas- 
ual onlooker  as  a  disunited  array  of  phenomena.  Philo- 
sophical teaching  will  be  the  more  fruitful,  the  more  it 
is  inspired  bv  the  thought  of  unity  of  aim,  and  the  more 
consciously  the  teachers  of  the  different  disciplines  keep 

302 


The  Teaching  of  Philosophy  303 

this  idea  in  mind.  That  is  the  reason  why  philosophical 
instruction  given  in  a  small  college  and  by  one  man  is, 
in  some  respects,  often  more  satisfactory  than  in  the  large 
university  with  its  numberless  specialists,  in  which  the 
beginning  student  frequently  does  not  see  the  forest  for  the 
trees.  It  is  not  essential  that  the  teacher  present  a 
thoroughly  worked-out  and  definitive  system  of  thought,  but 
it  is  important  that  he  constantly  keep  in  mind  the  inter- 
relatedness  of  the  various  parts  of  his  subject  and  the 
notion  of  unity  which  binds  them  together, —  at  least  as  an 
ideal. 

And  perhaps  this  notion  of  the  unity  of  knowledge  ought 
to  be  made  one  of  the  chief  aims  of  philosophical  instruc- 
tion in  the  college.  The  ideal  of  philosophy  in  the  sense 
of  metaphysics  is  to  see  things  whole,  to  understand  the 
interrelations  not  only  of  the  branches  taught  in  the  de- 
partment of  philosophy  but  of  all  the  diverse  subjects 
studied  throughout  the  university.  The  student  obtains 
glimpses  of  various  pictures  presented  by  different  de- 
partments and  different  men,  and  from  different  points  of 
view.  Each  teacher  offers  him  fragments  of  knowledge, 
the  meaning  of  which,  as  parts  of  an  all-inclusive  system, 
the  pupil  does  not  comprehend.  Indeed,  it  frequently  hap- 
pens that  the  different  pieces  do  not  fit  into  one  another;  and 
he  is  mystified  and  bewildered  by  the  seemingly  disparate 
array  of  facts  and  theories  crowding  his  brain  which  he 
cannot  correlate  and  generally  does  not  even  suspect  of 
being  capable  of  correlation.  To  be  sure,  every  teacher 
ought  to  be  philosophical,  if  not  a  philosopher,  and  in- 
dicate the  place  of  his  specialty  in  the  universe  of  knowl- 
edge; but  that  is  an  ideal  which  has  not  yet  been  realized. 
In  the  meanwhile,  the  study  of  philosophy  ought  to  make 
plain  that  knowledge  is  not  a  mere  heap  of  broken  frag- 
ments, that  the  inorganic,  organic,  and  mental  realms  are 
not  detached  and  independent  principalities  but  kingdoms 
in  a  larger  empire,  and  that  the  world  in  which  we  live 
is  not  a  chaos  but  a  cosmos.  An  introductory  course  in 
philosophy,  the  type  of  course  given  in  many  German  uni- 


304 


College  Teaching 


Controlling 
aimd  in  the 
teaching  of 
philosophy 


versities  under  the  title  "  Einleitung  in  die  Philosophic  " 
and  attended  by  students  from  all  sections  of  the  university, 
will  help  the  young  student  to  find  his  bearings  in  the 
multifarious  thought-world  unfolded  before  him  and  will, 
at  the  same  time,  put  him  in  the  way  of  developing  some 
sort  of  world-view  later  on. 

Philosophical  instruction  that  succeeds  in  the  task  out- 
lined above  will  have  accomplished  much.  Nevertheless,  it 
cannot  attain  its  goal  unless  the  student  is  introduced  to  the 
study  of  the  human-mental  world  which  constitutes  a  large 
portion  of  the  field  assigned  to  the  philosophical  depart- 
ment: the  study  of  psychology,  logic,  ethics,  and  the  history 
of  philosophy.  These  branches  deal  with  things  in  which 
the  human  race  has  been  interested  from  its  early  civi- 
lized beginnings  and  with  which  the  young  persons  entering 
college  have  had  little  or  no  opportunity  of  becoming 
acquainted.  And  they  deal  with  a  world  which  no  man  can 
ignore  who  seeks  to  understand  himself  and  his  relation 
to  the  natural  and  social  environment  in  which  his  lot  is 
cast.  A  knowledge  of  the  processes  of  mind  (psychology), 
of  the  laws  of  thought  (logic),  of  the  principles  of  con- 
duct (ethics),  and  of  the  development  of  man's  interpreta- 
tion of  reality  (history  of  philosophy)  will  supplement 
the  knowledge  acquired  by  the  study  of  physical  nature, 
preventing  a  one-sided  and  narrow  world-view,  and  will 
serve  as  a  preparation  for  intelligent  reflection  upon  the 
meaning  of  reality  (philosophy  in  the  sense  of  meta- 
physics). 

All  these  subjects,  therefore,  have  as  one  of  their  aims 
the  training  of  the  powers  of  thought  (judgment  and  rea- 
soning) ;  and  philosophical  teaching  should  never  lose  sight 
of  this.  Thinking  is  a  difficult  business, —  an  art  which  is 
practiced,  to  be  sure,  in  every  field  of  study,  but  one  for 
which  the  philosophical  branches  provide  unusual  oppor- 
tunity and  material.  It  has  become  a  habit  with  many 
of  recent  years  to  decry  the  study  of  logic  as  an  antiquated 
discipline,  but  it  still  remains,  if  properly  taught,  an  excel- 
lent means  of  cultivating  clear  thinking;  there  is  no  reason 


The  Teachi7ig  of  Philosophy  305 

why  a  consciousness  of  correct  ways  of  thinking  and  of  the 
methods  employed  in  reaching  reliable  judgments  should 
not  prove  useful  to  every  one. 

We  should  say,  therefore,  that  the  study  of  philosophy 
has  a  high  cultural  value:  it  encourages  the  student  to  re- 
flect upon  himself  and  his  human  and  natural  surroundings 
(society  and  nature)  and  to  come  to  grips  with  reality;  it 
frees  him  from  the  incubus  of  transmitted  opinions  and  bor- 
rowed beliefs,  and  makes  him  earn  his  spiritual  possessions 
in  the  sweat  of  his  face, —  mindful  of  Goethe's  warning  that 
"  he  alone  deserves  freedom  and  life  who  is  compelled  to 
battle  for  them  day  by  day";  — it  helps  him  to  see  things 
in  their  right  relations,  to  acquire  the  proper  intellectual 
and  volitional  attitude  toward  his  world  through  an  under- 
standing of  its  meaning  and  an  appreciation  of  its  values; 
in  short,  it  strengthens  him  in  his  struggle  to  win  his  soul, 
to  become  a  person.  This  is  its  ideal;  and  in  seeking  to 
realize  it,  philosophy  cooperates  with  the  other  studies  in 
the  task  of  developing  human  beings,  in  preparing  men  for 
complete  living,  and  is  therefore  practical  in  a  noble  sense 
of  the  term.  It  has  a  high  disciplinary  value  in  that  it 
trains  the  powers  of  analysis  and  judgment,  at  least  in  the 
fields  in  which  it  operates.  And  the  habit  acquired  there 
of  examining  judgments,  hypotheses,  and  beliefs  critically 
and  impartially,  of  testing  them  in  the  light  of  experience 
and  of  reason,  cannot  fail  to  prove  helpful  wherever  clear 
thinking  is  a  requisite. 

The  teacher  should  keep  all  these  aims  in  view  in  organiz- 
ing his  material  and  applying  his  methods.  He  should 
not  forget  that  philosophy  is  above  all  things  a  reflection 
upon  life;  he  should  endeavor  to  train  his  pupils  in  the  art 
of  interpreting  human  experience,  of  grasping  its  meaning. 
His  chief  concern  should  be  to  make  thinkers  of  them,  not 
to  fasten  upon  them  a  final  philosophic  creed, —  not  to 
give  them  a  philosophy,  but  to  teach  them  how  to  phi- 
losophize. If  he  succeeds  in  arousing  in  them  a  keen  in- 
tellectual interest  and  a  love  of  truth,  and  in  developing 
in  them  the  will  and  the  power  to  think  a  problem  through 


306  College  Teaching 

to  the  bitter  end,  he  will  have  done  more  for  them  than 
would  have  been  possible  by  furnishing  them  with  ready- 
made  formulas.  There  is  nothing  so  hopelessly  dead  as  a 
young  man  without  the  spirit  of  intellectual  adventure,  with 
his  mind  made  up,  with  the  master's  ideas  so  deeply  driven 
into  his  head  that  his  intellectual  career  is  finished.  The 
Germans  call  such  a  person  vernagelt,  a  term  that  fitly  de- 
scribes the  case.  What  should  be  aimed  at  is  the  cultivation 
of  the  mind  so  that  it  will  broaden  with  enlarging  experi- 
ence, that  it  will  be  hospitable  to  new  ideas  and  yet  not  be 
overwhelmed  by  them,  that  it  will  preserve  inviolate  its  in- 
tellectual integrity  and  keep  fresh  the  spirit  of  inquiry. 
Such  a  mind  may  be  safely  left  to  work  out  its  own  salvation 
in  the  quest  for  a  Weltanschauung. 

"Young,  all  lay  in  dispute;  I  shall  know,  being  old." 

In  emphasizing  the  need  of  such  central  aims  in  in- 
struction we  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  not  appreciat- 
ing the  utilitarian  value  of  the  philosophical  branches  and 
their  importance  as  a  preparation  for  professional  activity. 
Like  all  knowledge,  these  subjects  have  their  worth  not 
merely  as  means  of  developing  human  personality  but  also 
as  means  of  equipping  the  student  with  such  knowledge  of 
facts,  methods,  and  theories  as  will  prove  useful  to  him 
in  his  other  studies  and  in  the  daily  affairs  of  life.  The 
teacher,  the  physician,  the  lawyer,  the  clergyman,  the  artist, 
the  engineer,  the  business  man,  will  be  benefited  by  an 
understanding  of  the  workings  of  the  human  mind,  of  the 
laws  of  human  thinking,  and  of  the  principles  of  human 
conduct.  It  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  however,  in  our 
opinion,  that  separate  classes  specially  designed  for  the  dif- 
ferent professions  be  formed  in  the  colleges;  after  all,  it 
is  the  same  human  mind  that  operates  in  all  the  fields  of 
human  activity,  and  a  knowledge  of  mental  life  in  gen- 
eral will  serve  the  purposes  of  every  vocation.  Doubtless, 
courses  in  psychology,  logic,  and  ethics,  for  example,  might 
be  offered  having  in  view  the  particular  needs  of  prospective 


The  Teaching  of  Philosophy  307 


members  of  the  various  callings,  but  such  courses  would,  in 
order  to  meet  the  situation,  presuppose  an  acquaintance  with 
the  respective  professional  fields  in  question  which  only 
students  well  along  in  their  professional  studies  could  be 
expected  to  possess.  Courses  of  this  character  might  profit- 
ably be  given  for  the  benefit  of  professional  students  who 
have  already  taken  the  introductory  subjects  necessary  to 
their  proper  understanding. 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  the  most  favorable  period 
in  a  student's  college  career  at  which  philosophical  sub- 
jects should  be  taught.  The  more  mature  the  student  is, 
the  more  successful  the  instruction  is  apt  to  be;  but  this 
may  be  said  of  many  other  studies.  There  is  no  reason 
why  an  intelligent  freshman  may  not  begin  the  study  of 
psychology  and  logic  and  perhaps  of  some*  other  intro- 
ductory philosophical  branches;  but  as  a  rule  better  re- 
sults may  be  obtained  by  admitting  only  such  persons  to 
these  classes  as  have  familiarized  themselves  with  univer- 
sity methods. 

We  should  recommend  that  every  student  in  the  college 
devote  at  least  three  hours  a  week  for  four  terms  to  the 
study  of  psychology,  logic,  ethics,  and  the  history  of 
philosophy.  In  case  not  all  these  fundamental  courses 
can  be  taken,  the  student  will  most  likely  derive  the  greatest 
benefit  by  giving  a  year  to  the  study  of  the  history  of 
philosophy,  or  one  term  to  the  introduction  to  philosophy, 
where  he  has  only  that  much  time  at  his  disposal.  It  seems 
easier,  however,  to  arouse  a  philosophical  interest  in  the 
average  student  through  a  study  of  the  basal  philosophical 
questions  from  the  standpoint  of  contemporaneous  thinking 
than  through  the  study  of  the  history  of  philosophy.  He 
is  generally  lacking  in  the  historic  sense,  and  is  apt  to  be 
wearied  and  even  confused  by  the  endless  procession  of 
systems.  This  is  particularly  the  case  when  the  teacher 
fails  to  emphasize  sufficiently  the  progressive  nature  of 
philosophical  thinking  in  its  history,  when  he  regards  this 
as  a  mere  succession  of  ideas  rather  than  as  a  more  or 
less  logical   unfolding  of  problems  and   solutions  —  as  a 


Introduction 
of  philoso- 
phy in  the 
college 
course 


Problems 
of  philoso- 
phy and  the 
development 
of  thought 
to  be  empha- 
sized, rather 
than  the 
historical 
sequence 


instruction 


308  College  Teaching 

continuous  effort  on  the  part  of  the  universal  mind,  so  to 
speak,  to  understand  itself  and  the  world.  A  course  in  the 
introduction  to  philosophy  acquainting  the  student  with  the 
aims  of  philosophy  and  its  relation  to  other  fields  of  study, 
and  placing  before  him  an  account  of  the  most  important 
problems  of  metaphysics  and  epistemology  as  well  as  of 
the  solutions  which  have  been  offered  by  the  great  thinkers, 
together  with  such  criticisms  and  suggestions  as  may  stimu- 
late his  thought,  will  awaken  in  him  a  proper  appreciation 
of  a  deeper  study  of  the  great  systems  and  lead  him  to  seek 
light  from  the  history  of  philosophy. 
Methods  of  The  place  and  relative  worth  of  the  various  methods  of 

instruction  in  the  province  of  philosophy  will,  of  course, 
depend,  among  other  things,  upon  the  character  of  the  par- 
ticular subject  taught  and  the  size  and  quality  of  the  class. 
In  nearly  all  the  introductory  philosophical  branches  in 
which  the  classes  are  large  the  lecture  method  will  prove 
a  valuable  auxiliary.  In  no  case,  however,  should  this 
method  be  employed  exclusively;  and  in  formal  logic  it 
should  be  used  rather  sparingly.  Ample  opportunity 
should  always  be  given  in  smaller  groups  for  raising  ques- 
tions and  discussing  important  issues  with  a  view  to  clear- 
ing up  obscure  points,  overcoming  difficulties,  developing 
the  student's  powers  of  thought,  and  enabling  him  to  exer- 
cise his  powers  of  expression.  It  is  also  essential  that  the 
student  be  trained  in  the  difficult  art  of  reading  philosophi- 
cal works.  It  is  wise  as  a  rule  to  refer  him  to  a  good  text- 
book, which  should  be  carefully  studied,  to  passages  or 
chapters  in  other  standard  manuals,  and  in  historical  study 
to  the  writings  of  the  great  masters.  And  frequent  oppor- 
tunity to  express  himself  in  the  written  word  must  be  af- 
forded him;  to  this  end  written  reports  giving  the  thought 
of  an  author  in  the  student's  own  language,  occasional 
critical  essays,  and  written  examinations  appealing  not  only 
to  his  memory  but  to  his  intelligence  should  be  required 
during  the  term.  Such  exercises  keep  the  student's  interest 
alive,  increase  his  stock  of  knowledge,  develop  maturity 
and  independence  of  thought,  and  create  a  sense  of  grow- 


The  Teaching  of  Philosophy  309 


ing  intellectual  power.  The  written  tests  encourage  mem- 
bers of  the  class  to  review  the  work  gone  over  and  to  dis- 
cuss with  one  another  important  phases  of  it;  in  the  effort 
to  organize  their  knowledge  they  obtain  a  much  better  grasp 
of  the  subject  than  would  have  been  possible  without  such 
an  intensive  re-appraisal  of  the  material. 

In  the  course  on  formal  logic  a  large  part  of  the  time 
should  be  spent  in  examining  and  criticizing  examples  of 
the  processes  of  thought  studied  (definitions,  arguments, 
methods  employed  in  reaching  knowledge)  and  in  apply- 
ing the  principles  of  correct  thinking  in  written  discourses. 
It  is  a  pity  that  we  have  no  comprehensive  work  containing 
the  illustrative  material  needed  for  the  purpose.  As  it  is, 
the  teacher  will  do  well  to  select  his  examples  from  scien- 
tific works,  speeches,  and  the  textbooks  used  in  other  classes. 
As  every  one  knows,  nothing  is  so  likely  to  deaden  the  in- 
terest and  to  make  the  study  of  logic  seem  trivial  as  the  use 
of  the  puerile  examples  found  in  many  of  the  older  treat- 
ises. With  the  proper  material  this  subject  can  be  made 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  profitable  courses  in  the 
curriculum, —  in  spite  of  what  its  modem  detractors  may 
say. 

In  the  history  of  philosophy  the  lectures  and  textbook 
should  be  supplemented  by  the  reading  of  the  writings  of 
the  great  philosophers.  Wherever  it  is  possible,  the  learner 
should  be  sent  to  the  sources  themselves.  It  will  do  him 
good  to  finger  the  books  and  to  find  the  references;  and  by 
and  by  he  may  be  tempted  to  read  beyond  the  required  as- 
signment —  a  thing  greatly  to  be  encouraged,  and  out  of 
the  question  so  long  as  he  limits  himself  to  some  one's  selec- 
tions from  the  writings  of  the  philosophers. 

In  the  advanced  courses  the  research  method  may  be  in- 
troduced; special  problems  may  be  assigned  to  the  student 
who  has  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamentals,  to  be 
worked  out  under  the  guidance  of  the  instructor. 

In  the  lecture  intended  for  beginners  the  teacher  should 
seek  to  arouse  in  his  hearers  an  interest  in  the  subject  and 
the  desire  to  plunge  more  deeply  into  it.     He  should  not 


Logic  to  be 
related  to 
the  intellec- 
tual life 
of  the 
student 


Students  to 
be  familiar- 
ized with 
sources  and 
original 
writings  of 
the  leading 
philoso- 
phers 


310 


College  Teaching 


Lecture 
method 
should 
arouse 
dynamic  In- 
terest and  a 
desire  to 
master  the 
problems  of 
philosophy 


How  to  se- 
cure active 
participation 
by  students 
through 
lecture 
method 


bewilder  the  student  with  too  many  details  and  digressions 
but  present  the  broad  outlines  of  the  field,  placing  be- 
fore him  the  essentials  and  leaving  him  to  fill  in  the 
minutiae  by  a  study  of  the  books  of  reference.  Each  lecture 
ought  to  constitute  an  organic  whole,  as  it  were,  in  which 
the  different  parts  are  held  together  by  a  central  idea;  and 
its  connection  with  the  subject  matter  of  the  preceding 
lectures  should  be  kept  before  the  hearer's  mind.  All  this 
requires  careful  and  conscientious  preparation  on  the  part 
of  the  teacher,  who  must  understand  the  intellectual  quality 
of  his  class  and  avoid  "  shooting  over  their  heads  "  as  well 
as  going  to  the  other  extreme  of  aiming  below  the  level  of 
their  mental  capacities.  Lecturing  that  is  more  than  mere 
entertainment  is  an  art  which  young  instructors  sometimes 
look  upon  as  an  easy  acquisition  and  which  older  heads, 
after  long  years  of  experience,  often  despair  of  ever  master- 
ing. The  lecture  aims  to  do  what  books  seldom  accom- 
plish—  to  infuse  life  and  spirit  into  the  subject;  and  this 
ideal  a  living  personality  may  hope  to  realize  where  a 
dead  book  fails. 

In  order,  however,  that  the  philosophical  lecture  may  not 
fail  of  its  purpose,  the  hearer  must  be  more  than  a  mere 
listener;  he  must  bring  with  him  an  alert  mind  that  grasps 
meanings  and  can  follow  thought-sequences.  And  he  can- 
not keep  his  attention  fixed  upon  the  discourse  and  under- 
stand the  relations  of  its  parts  unless  other  senses  co- 
operate with  the  sense  of  hearing  and  unless  the  motor 
centers  are  called  into  play  also.  He  should  carefully 
cultivate  the  art  of  taking  notes,  an  accomplishment  in 
which  the  average  student  is  sadly  lacking  and  to  acquire 
which  he  needs  the  assistance  of  the  instructor,  which  he 
seldom  receives.  An  examination  of  the  student's  notebook 
frequently  reveals  such  a  woeful  lack  of  discrimination  on 
the  writer's  part  that  one  is  led  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  fol- 
lowing this  method  at  all;  wholly  unimportant  things  are 
set  down  in  faithful  detail  and  essential  ones  wholly  ignored. 
The  hour  spent  in  the  lecture  room,  however,  can  and 
should  be  made  a  fruitful  means  of  instruction,  one  that 


The  Teaching  of  Philosophy  311 

will  awaken  processes  of  thought  and  leave  its  mark.  But 
in  order  to  get  the  best  result,  the  student  should  be  urged 
to  study  his  notes  and  the  books  to  which  he  has  been 
referred  while  the  matters  discussed  in  the  lecture  are  still 
fresh  in  his  mind;  he  will  be  able  to  clear  up  points  he 
did  not  fully  grasp,  see  connections  that  have  escaped 
him,  understand  the  force  of  arguments  which  he  missed; 
and  he  will  assume  a  more  independent  and  critical  attitude 
toward  what  he  has  heard  than  was  possible  on  the  spur 
of  the  moment,  when  he  was  driven  on  and  could  not  stop 
and  reflect.  At  home,  in  the  quiet  of  his  study,  he  can 
organize  the  material,  see  the  parts  of  the  discourse  in  their 
relation'*  to  each  other,  and  re-create  the  whole  as  it  lived 
and  moved  in  the  mind  of  the  teacher.  In  doing  this  work 
he  is  called  on  to  exercise  his  thinking  and  takes  an  im- 
portant step  forward.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  am  some- 
what skeptical  of  the  value  of  the  syllabus  prepared  by  the 
teacher  for  the  use  of  classes  in  philosophy, —  it  does  for 
the  student  what  he  should  do  for  himself.  Whatever  value 
the  syllabus  may  have  in  other  fields  of  study,  its  use  in  the 
philosophical  branches  ought  to  be  discouraged.  The  great 
weakness  of  the  lecture  method  lies  in  its  tendency  to  relieve 
the  hearer  of  the  necessity  of  doing  his  own  thinking,  to 
leave  him  passive,  to  feed  him  with  predigested  food;  and 
this  defect  is  augmented  by  providing  him  with  "  helps  '* 
which  rob  him  of  the  benefit  and  pleasure  of  putting  the 
pieces  of  the  puzzle-picture  together  himself. 

However,  even  at  its  best,  the  lecture  method,  unless  sup- 
plemented in  the  ways  already  indicated,  runs  the  danger 
of  making  the  student  an  intellectual  sponge,  a  mere 
absorber  of  knowledge,  or  a  kind  of  receptacle  for  pro- 
fessors to  shoot  ideas  into.  As  was  said  before,  the  student 
must  cultivate  the  art  of  reading  books  and  of  expressing 
his  thoughts  by  means  of  the  spoken  and  written  word. 
At  the  early  stages  and  in  some  fields  of  philosophical 
study,  however,  the  reading  of  many  books  may  confuse 
the  beginner  and  leave  his  mind  in  a  state  of  bewilderment. 
It  is  indispensable  that  he  acquire  the  working  concepts  and 


312 


College  Teaching 


Organiza- 
tion of 
under- 
graduate 
courses  in 
philosophy 


the  terminology  of  the  subject,  and  to  this  end  it  is  gener- 
ally wise  to  limit  his  reading  until  he  has  gained  sufficient 
skill  in  handling  his  tools,  as  it  were.  In  the  elementary 
courses  many  members  of  the  class  will  be  unable  to  do 
more  than  follow  the  lectures  and  study  the  textbook;  the 
more  gifted  ones,  however,  should  be  encouraged  to  extend 
the  range  of  their  reading  under  the  guidance  of  the  in- 
structor. 

An  answer  to  the  question  concerning  the  desired  se- 
quence of  courses  in  philosophy  will  depend  upon  many 
considerations, —  upon  one's  conception  of  philosophy  and 
of  the  various  subjects  generally  embraced  under  it,  upon 
one's  notion  of  the  aims  of  philosophical  instruction,  upon 
one's  estimate  of  the  difficulties  encountered  by  the  student 
in  the  study  of  the  different  branches  of  it,  and  so  on. 
There  is  wide  divergence  of  opinion  among  thinkers  on  all 
these  points.  Philosophy  is  variously  conceived  as  meta- 
physics, as  theory  of  knowledge,  as  the  science  of  mind 
(Geisteswissenschaft) ,  as  the  science  of  values  {Wert- 
theorie),  or  as  all  of  these  together.  Logic  is  conceived 
by  some  thinkers  as  dependent  upon  psychology,  by  others 
as  the  presupposition  of  all  the  sciences,  including 
psychology.  Ethics  is  regarded  both  as  a  branch  of 
psychology,  or  as  dependent  upon  psychology,  and  as  an  in- 
dependent study  having  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
psychology.  Psychology  itself  is  treated  both  as  a  natural 
science,  its  connection  with  philosophy  being  explained  as 
a  historical  survival,  and  as  the  fundamental  study  upon 
which  all  the  other  subjects  of  the  philosophical  depart- 
ment must  rest.  Where  there  is  such  a  lack  of  agreement, 
it  will  not  be  easy  to  map  out  a  sequential  course  of  study 
that  will  satisfy  everybody.  Even  when  philosophy  is  de- 
fined in  the  old  historic  sense  as  an  attempt  to  reach  a 
theory  of  the  world  and  of  life,  men  may  differ  as  to  the 
exact  order  in  which  the  basal  studies  should  be  pursued. 
By  many  the  history  of  philosophy  is  considered  the  best 
introduction  to  the  entire  field,  while  others  would  place 
it  at  the  end  of  the  series  of  fundamentals   (psychology, 


The  Teaching  of  Philosophy  313 

logic,  ethics),  holding  that  a  student  who  has  studied  these 
will  be  best  equipped  for  a  study  that  includes  the  history 
of  their  development.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  given  students 
of  mature  mind  and  the  necessary  general  preparation, 
either  order  may  be  justified.  The  average  underclassman 
is,  however,  too  immature  to  plunge  at  once  into  the  study 
of  the  history  of  philosophy,  and  the  present  writer  would 
recommend  that  it  be  preceded  by  courses  in  general 
psychology,  logic  and  ethics.  The  average  sophomore  will 
have  little  difficulty  in  following  courses  in  psychology  and 
logic;  and  it  is  immaterial  which  of  these  he  takes  up  first. 
The  course  in  the  theory  of  ethics  should  come  in  the  junior 
or  senior  year  and  after  the  student  has  gained  some 
knowledge  of  psychology  (preferably  from  a  book  like 
Stout's  Manual  of  Psychology) .  And  it  would  be  an  ad- 
vantage if  the  course  in  ethics  could  be  preceded  by  a  study 
of  the  development  of  moral  ideas,  of  the  kind,  let  us 
say,  presented  in  Hobhouse's  Morals  in  Evolution.  For 
reasons  already  stated,  the  entire  course  in  philosophy 
should  be  inaugurated  by  the  Introduction  to  Philosophy. 
Advanced  courses  in  metaphysics  and  the  theory  of  knowl- 
edge should  come  at  the  end  and  follow  the  history  of 
philosophy.  The  ideal  sequence  would,  therefore,  be  in  the 
view  of  the  present  writer:  Introduction  to  Philosophy, 
Psychology  or  Logic,  the  Development  of  Moral  Ideas,  The- 
ory of  Ethics,  History  of  Philosophy,  Metaphysics,  and 
Theory  of  Knowledge.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that 
a  rigorous  insistence  upon  this  scheme  in  the  American  col- 
lege, in  which  freedom  of  election  is  the  rule,  would  impair 
the  usefulness  of  the  department  of  philosophy.  Few  stu- 
dents will  be  willing  to  take  all  these  subjects,  and  there  is 
no  reason  why  an  intelligent  junior  or  senior  should  not  be 
admitted  to  a  course  in  ethics  or  the  history  of  philosophy 
without  having  first  studied  the  other  branches.  A  person 
possessing  sufficient  maturity  of  mind  to  pursue  these  studies 
will  be  greatly  benefited  by  them  even  when  he  comes  to 
them  without  previous  preparation;  and  it  would  be  a  pity 
to  deprive  him  of  the  opportunity  to  become  acquainted  with 


314 


College  Teaching 


a  field  in  which  some  of  the  ablest  thinkers  have  exercised 
their  powers.  At  all  events,  he  should  not  leave  college 
without  having  had  a  course  in  the  history  of  philosophy, 
which  will  open  up  a  new  world  to  him  and  may  perhaps 
stimulate  him  to  read  the  best  books  in  the  other  branches 
later  on. 

It  would  not  be  possible,  of  course,  to  prescribe  all  the 
fundamental  philosophical  courses,  even  if  it  were  desir- 
able,—  few  faculties  would  go  so  far, —  but  it  would  be 
wise  to  require  every  candidate  for  the  bachelor's  degree 
to  give  at  least  six  hours  of  his  time  (three  hours  a  term, 
on  the  two-term  basis)  to  one  or  two  of  the  elementary 
courses,  preferably  in  the  sophomore  year.  Ethics  and  the 
history  of  philosophy  could  then  be  chosen  as  electives 
and  be  followed  by  the  more  advanced  and  specialized 
courses. 

We  have  already  touched  upon  some  of  the  debatable 
questions  in  the  sphere  of  philosophical  education.  The 
dispute  concerning  the  place  of  psychology  in  the  scheme 
of  philosophical  instruction  has  its  cause  in  differences  of 
view  concerning  the  aims,  nature,  and  methods  of  that  sub- 
ject. Philosophers  ask  for  an  introductory  course  in  psy- 
chology which  shall  serve  as  a  propaedeutic  to  the  philo- 
sophical studies,  while  teachers  of  education  wish  to  have  it 
treated  in  a  way  to  throw  light  upon  educational  methods 
and  theory.  "Some  biologists  treat  mental  phenomena  as 
mere  correlates  of  physiological  processes.  .  .  .  Others, 
including  a  number  of  psychologists  also,  regard  psycho- 
logical phenomena  as  fully  explicable  in  terms  of  behavior, 
and  as  constituting  therefore  a  phase  of  biological  science." 
The  Committee  of  the  American  Psychological  Association 
on  the  Academic  Status  of  Psychology  recommends  "  that 
the  Association  adopt  the  principle  that  the  undergraduate 
psychological  curriculum  in  every  college  or  university, 
great  or  small,  should  be  planned  from  the  standpoint  of 
psychology  and  in  accordance  with  psychological  ideals, 
rather  than  to  fit  the  needs  and  meet  the  demands  of  some 


The  Teaching  of  Philosophy  315 

other  branch  of  learning."  ^  This  declaration  of  principle 
might  lead  to  peace  between  the  philosophers  and  the 
psychologists  if  there  were  agreement  concerning  the 
"  psychological  ideals  "  in  accordance  with  which  the  sub- 
ject is  to  be  studied.  The  desideratum  of  the  philosophers 
is  a  psychology  which  will  give  the  student  an  understand- 
ing of  the  various  phases  of  mental  life;  but  they  do  not 
believe  that  this  can  be  reached  by  an  exclusive  use  of  the 
natural-scientific  method.  The  objection  of  some  psy- 
chologists, that  the  philosophers  wish  to  inject  metaphysics 
into  the  study  of  mental  processes,  is  met  by  the  rejoinder 
that  the  natural-scientific  psychology  is  itself  based  upon  an 
unconscious  metaphysics,  and  a  false  one  at  that.  What 
the  philosophers  desire  is  psychological  courses  which  will 
do  full  justice  to  the  facts  of  the  mental  life  and  not  falsify 
them  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  scientific  theory  or  method 
—  courses  of  the  kind  given  in  European  universities  by 
men  whose  reputation  as  psychologists  is  beyond  suspicion. 

We  have  likewise  alluded,  in  this  chapter,  to  the  con-   SiT!!*L'.°*« 

r       '  Views  as  to 

troversy  over  the  need  and  nature  of  an  introductory  course  nature  of 
in  philosophy.  Of  those  who  favor  such  a  philosophical  l^^urse'ta'^ 
propaedeutic  some  recommend  the  History  of  Philosophy,  phUosophy 
others  an  Introduction  to  Philosophy  of  the  type  described 
in  the  preceding  pages.  Some  teachers  regard  as  the  ideal 
course  a  study  of  the  evolving  attitudes  of  the  individual 
toward  the  world,  after  the  manner  of  Hegel's  Phenomenol- 
ogy of  the  Spirit;  some  the  Philosophy  of  History;  some 
Kulturgeschichte,  that  is,  the  study  of  "  the  evolution  of 
science,  morality,  art,  religion,  and  political  life, —  in  short, 
the  history  of  institutions";  some  the  study  of  the  great 
literatures;  and  some  would  seek  the  approach  to  the  sub- 
ject through  the  religious  interest.-  It  is  plain  that  the 
History  of  Philosophy  will  receive  help  from  all  these 
sources;  and  a  wise  teacher  will  make  frequent  use  of 
them.     Nor  can  the  course  in  the  Introduction  to  Philoso- 

*  The  sentences  quoted  are  taken  from  the  Report  of  this  committee, 

which  was  published  in  December,  1914. 
2  See  the  articles  of  J.  W.  Hudson  and  others  in  the  Bibliography. 


316 


College  Teaching 


phy  afford  to  ignore  them;  it  will  do  well  to  lay  particular 
stress  upon  the  philosophical  attitudes,  the  embryonic 
philosophies  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  great  literatures, 
in  the  great  religions,  in  science,  and  in  the  common  sense 
of  mankind.  Wherever  the  human  mind  is  at  work,  there 
philosophical  conceptions, —  world-views,  crude  or  devel- 
oped,—  play  their  part;  and  they  form  the  background 
of  the  lives  of  peoples  as  well  as  of  individuals.  In  the 
systems  of  the  great  thinkers  they  are  formulated  and  made 
more  or  less  consistent;  but  everywhere  they  are  the  result 
of  the  mind's  yearning  to  understand  the  meaning  of  life 
in  its  manifold  expressions.  When  the  student  comes  to 
see  that  philosophy  is  simply  an  attempt  to  do  what  man- 
kind has  always  been  doing  and  will  always  continue  to  do, 
in  a  rough  way,  that  it  is  "  only  an  unusually  obstinate  at- 
tempt to  think  clearly  and  consistently," —  to  continue  the 
process  of  thinking  to  the  bitter  end, —  his  attitude  toward 
it  will  be  one  of  intelligent  interest  and  respect.  But  not 
one  of  these  subjects  taken  by  itself  will  serve  the  purpose 
of  an  introductory  course. 

Another  moot  question  is  concerned  with  the  use  of  the 
"  case  method,"  employed  in  law  instruction,  in  ethics. 
The  case  method  seeks  to  know  what  the  moral  law  is  by 
studying  the  moral  judgments  of  society;  or,  more 
definitely,  to  quote  the  words  of  Professor  Coxe,^  one  of 
its  champions:  "to  discover,  if  possible,  a  law  running 
through  the  judgments  which  society  has  made  through  its 
duly  appointed  officials."  "  Historical  cases,  properly  at- 
tested, alone  give  us  the  means  of  objective  judgment." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  method  will  prove  service- 
able, if  judiciously  applied;  but  its  exclusive  use  either  as 
a  method  of  study  or  as  a  method  of  instruction, —  even 
in  an  introductory  course  in  ethics, —  is  not  to  be  recom- 
mended.^ The  student  will  not  gain  an  adequate  concep- 
tion of  morality  from  a  study  of  the  varying  and  often  con- 
tradictory "  historical  cases,"  much  less  from  a  study  of  the 

^  See  Bibliography. 

2  See  Professor  Overstreet's  Discussion  mentioned  in  the  Bibliography. 


The  Teaching  of  Philosophy  317 

judgments  which  society  has  made  "  through  its  duly  ap- 
pointed officials."  The  legal  "  case "  literature  of  our 
country  does  indeed  furnish  valuable  and  interesting  ma- 
terial for  ethical  study,  but  it  would  require  a  riper  mind 
than  that  of  a  beginner  to  discover  and  to  evaluate  the 
moral  principles  which  lie  embodied  in  it. 

The  problem  of  testing  the  effectiveness  of  one's  teach-  Testing  the 
ing  presents  few  difficulties  in  classes  which  are  small  and  instruction 
in  which  individual  instruction  is  possible.  Wherever 
teacher  and  student  come  in  close  personal  contact  and  op- 
portunity is  afforded  for  full  and  frequent  discussions  as 
well  as  for  written  exercises,  it  is  a  comparatively  easy 
matter  to  judge  the  mental  caliber  of  the  members  of  the 
class  and  to  determine  the  extent  of  their  progress.  In 
the  case  of  the  large  classes,  however,  which  crowd  into 
the  lecture  halls  of  the  modern  university,  the  task  is  not 
so  simple.  Here  every  effort  should  be  made  to  divide 
such  concourses  of  students  into  numerous  sections,  small 
enough  to  enable  the  instructor  to  become  acquainted  with 
those  under  his  charge  and  to  watch  their  development. 
The  professor  who  gives  the  lectures  should  take  one  or 
more  of  these  sections  himself  in  order  that  he  may  under- 
stand the  minds  to  which  he  is  addressing  himself,  and 
govern  himself  accordingly.  The  tests  should  consist  of 
discussions,  essays,  and  written  and  oral  examinations;  by 
means  of  these  it  is  not  impossible  to  determine  whether  the 
aims  of  the  subject  have  been  realized  in  the  instruction 
or  not.  But  the  tasks  set  should  be  of  such  a  character  as 
to  test  the  student's  power  of  thought,  his  ability  to  under- 
stand what  he  has  read  and  heard  with  all  its  implications, 
his  ability  to  assume  a  critical  attitude  toward  what  he 
has  assimilated,  and  his  ability  to  try  his  intellectual  wings 
in  independent  flights.  A  person  who  devotes  himself  faith- 
fully to  his  work  during  the  entire  term,  who  puts  his  mind 
upon  it,  takes  an  active  part  in  the  discussions,  and  is  en- 
couraged to  express  himself  frequently  by  means  of  the 
written  word,  will  surely  give  some  indication  of  the 
progress  he  has  made,  even  in  a  written  examination  —  it 


818  College  Teaching 

being  a  fair  assumption  that  one  who  knows  will  somehow 
succeed  in  revealing  his  knowledge.  Care  must  be  taken, 
of  course,  that  the  test  is  not  a  mere  appeal  to  the  memory; 
it  is  only  when  the  examination  makes  demands  upon  the 
student's  intelligence  that  it  can  be  considered  a  fair  meas- 
ure of  the  value  of  philosophical  instruction.  It  must  not 
be  forgotten,  however,  that  the  examination  may  reveal  not 
only  the  weakness  of  the  learner  but  the  weakness  of  the 
teacher.  It  is  possible  for  a  student,  even  in  philosophy,  to 
make  a  fine  showing  in  a  written  examination  by  repeating 
the  words  of  the  master  which  he  does  not  understand,  with- 
out having  derived  any  real  benefit  from  the  course.  The 
teacher  may  set  an  examination  whi  H  will  hide  the  de- 
ficiencies of  the  instruction,  and  the  temptation  to  do  this 
in  large  classes  which  he  knows  have  not  been  properly 
taught  is  great. 

Frank  Thilly 
Cornell  University 

Bibliography 

CoxE,  G.  C.    The  Case  Method  in  the  Study  and  Teaching  of  Ethics. 

Journal  of  Philosophy,  Psychology,  and  Scientific  Methods,  Vol. 

X,  13,  page  337. 
Davies,  a.  E.     Education  and  Philosophy.    Journal  of  Philosophy, 

Psychology,  and  Scientific  Methods,  Vol.  VI,  14,  page  365. 
HiNMAN,  E.  L,    The  Aims  of  an  Introductory  Course  in  Philosophy. 

Journal  of  Philosophy,  Psychology,  and  Scientific  Methods,  Vol. 

VII,  21,  page  561. 
HoFLER,  A.    Zur  Propddeutik-Frage. 
HoFLER,    A.    Zur    Reform    der    philosophischen    Propadeutik.    Zeit- 

schrift  fiir  die  Osterreichischen  Gymnasien,  Vol.  L,  3,  page  255. 
Hudson,  J.  W.     Hegel's  Conception  of  an  Introduction  to  Philosophy. 

Journal  of  Philosophy,  Psychology,  and  Scientific  Methods,  Vol. 

VI,  13,  page  337. 

An  Introduction  to  Philosophy  through  the  Philosophy  of  His- 
tory. Journal  of  Philosophy,  Psychology,  and  Scientific  Methods, 
Vol.  VII,  21,  page  569. 

The  Aims  and  Methods  of  Introduction  Courses:  A  Question- 
naire. Journal  of  Philosophy,  Psychology,  and  Scientific  Meth- 
ods, Vol.  IX,  2,  page  29. 

Lehmann,  R.    Der  deutsche  Unterricht,  pages  389-437. 


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Leuchtenbercer,  G.    Die  philosophische  Propadeutik  auf  den  hoh- 

eren  Schulen. 
OvERSTREET,    H.    A.     Professor   G)xe'8   "  Case   Method "    in    Ethics. 

Journal  of  Philosophy,  Psychology,  and  Scientific  Methods,  Vol. 

X,  17,  page  464. 
Paulsen,  F.     German  Universities  and  University  Studies.     English 

translation  by  Frank  Thilly  and  W.  W.  Elwang,  Book  III  and 

Book  IV. 

Ueber  Vergangenheit  und  Zukunft  der  Philosophic  im  gelehrten 

Unterricht,  Central-Organ  fiir  die  Interessen  des  Realschulwesens, 
Vol.  XIV,  1,  page  4. 

Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  Conclusion. 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Academic  Status  of  Psychology,  pub- 
lished by  the  American  Psychological  Association,  December, 
1914. 

Tufts,  J.  H.  Carman  as  a  Teacher.  Journal  of  Philosophy,  Psychol- 
ogy, and  Scientific  Methods,  Vol.  IV,  10,  page  263. 

Weissenfels,  0.  Die  Philosophie  auf  jlem  Gymnasium.  Zeitschrift 
far  das  Gymnasialtvesen,  Vol.  LIII,  1,  page  1. 

Wendt,  G.  Didaktik  und  Methodik  des  deutschen  Unterrichts,  Hand' 
buch  der  Erziehungs-  und  Unterrichtslehre  fiir  hohere  Schulen. 


XV 

THE  TEACHING  OF  ETHICS 


Interest  in 
tbe  study  of 
ethics  deter- 
mined by 
the  aim  of 
instruction 


Viewpoint 
in  tbe 
past 


The  busi- 
ness of  right 
living  the 
aim  of  ethics 
teaching 


NOWHERE  does  academic  tediousness  work  a  more  dire 
mischief  than  in  the  teaching  of  ethics.  It  is  bad  to 
have  students  forever  shun  the  best  books  because  of  poor 
instruction  in  literature;  the  damage  is  worse  when  it  is 
the  subject  of  moral  obligation  which  they  associate  with 
only  the  duller  hours  of  their  college  life.  Not  that  the 
aim  of  a  course  in  ethics  is  to  afford  a  number  of  enter- 
taining periods.  The  object  rather  is  to  help  our  students 
realize  that  here  is  a  subject  which  seeks  to  interpret  for 
them  the  most  important  problems  of  their  own  lives  present 
and  to  come.  Where  this  end  is  kept  in  view,  the  question 
of  interesting  them  is  settled.  A  sincere  interpretation  of 
life  always  takes  the  interest  when  once  it  is  grasped  that 
this  is  what  is  really  being  interpreted. 

The  procedure  in  the  past  (and  still  quite  common)  was 
to  introduce  the  subject  by  way  of  its  history.  A  book 
like  Sidgwick's  History  of  Ethics  was  studied,  with  supple- 
ments in  the  shape  of  the  students'  own  reading  of  the 
classics,  or  lectures,  with  quotations,  by  the  teacher.  That 
this  method  was  frequently  of  much  service  is  undeniable. 
Teachers  there  are  with  rare  gifts  of  inspiration  who  can 
put  freshness  into  any  course  which  ordinary  teachers  leave 
hopelessly  arid.  But  this  should  not  blind  us  to  the  fact 
that  certain  modes  of  procedure  are  in  general  more  likely 
to  be  fruitful  than  others. 

These  methods  depend  upon  the  aim;  and  the  aim,  we 
venture  to  hold,  should  be  eminently  practical.  The  con- 
tent of  ethics  is  not  primarily  a  matter  of  whether  Kant's 
judgments  are  sounder  than  Mill's  or  Spencer's.  Its  sub- 
ject is  human  life  and  the  business  of  right  living:  how 
should  people  —  real  people,  that  is,  not  textbook  illustra- 
tions—  live  with  one  another?  This  is  the  essential  con- 
cern of  our  subject  matter,  and  in  it  our  student  is  inti- 

320 


The  Teaching  of  Ethics  321 

mately  and  practically  involved.  Charged  with  the  fact,  he 
may  deny  the  impeachment.  He  refuses  to  worry  over  the 
merits  of  hedonism  versus  rigorism,  the  distinction  between 
hypothetical  and  categorical  imperatives,  or  the  claim  of 
ethics  to  be  called  a  science.  Ethics,  that  is,  as  an  in- 
tellectual discipline  through  the  survey  of  historic  disputa- 
tions is  indeed  remote  from  the  concerns  that  touch  his  life. 
But  all  the  time  there  is  no  subject  of  greater  interest  when 
approached  from  the  side  of  its  bearing  on  practical  prob- 
lems. Consider  the  earnestness  with  which  the  student  will 
discuss  with  his  friends  such  questions  as  these:  What 
sense  is  there  in  a  labor  strike?  Is  a  conscientious  objector 
justified  in  refusing  military  service?  Why  should  any  one 
oppose  easy  divorce  laws?  May  a  lawyer  defend  a  rogue 
whom  he  knows  to  be  guilty?  Can  one  change  the  nature 
with  which  he  was  born?  Is  violence  justified  in  the  name 
of  social  reform?  If  what  is  right  in  one  age  or  place  is 
wrong  in  another,  is  it  fair  to  object  when  moral  laws  are 
broken?  If  a  practice  like  prostitution  is  common,  what 
makes  it  wrong? 

These  do  not  sound  like  the  questions  likely  to  re- 
ceive a  welcome  hearing  in  the  classroom;  but  it  is  pre- 
cisely upon  the  interest  in  such  topics  as  these  that 
the  course  in  ethics  should  build;  for  its  subject  is  right 
living,  a  matter  in  which  the  student  may  indeed  be 
assumed  to  feel  a  genuine  concern.  If  the  questions 
that  he  wants  answered  are  not  all  as  broad  in  their 
significance  as  the  foregoing,  there  are  others  of  a  more 
immediate  personal  kind  which  arise  in  his  life  as  a 
student,  as  a  friend,  as  a  son  and  brother,  problems 
in  which  standards  of  fair  play  and  "  decency "  are 
involved,  and  upon  which  it  may  be  taken  for  granted 
that  he  has  done  some  thinking,  howsoever  crude. 
These  interests  are  invaluable.  Out  of  them  the  finer 
product  is  to  be  created  in  the  shape  of  better  stand- 
ards, higher  ideals,  and  habits  of  moral  thoughtful- 
ness,  leading  in  turn  to  still  better  standards  and  still 
worthier  conduct.     The  course  in  ethics  should  be  practical 


322 


College  Treadling 


Illustrations 
of  the  prob- 
lems of  right 
living 


in  the  sense  that  both  its  starting  point  and  its  final  object 
are  found  in  the  student's  management  of  his  life. 

Consider,  for  example,  how  his  interest  in  problems  of 
friendship  may  be  used  as  the  point  of  departure  for  an 
extremely  important  survey  over  general  questions  of  right 
relationship.  Just  because  friendship  is  so  vital  a  concern 
of  adolescent  years,  he  can  be  led  to  read  what  Aristotle., 
Kant,  Emerson,  have  to  say  upon  this  subject  and  be  intro- 
duced as  well  to  that  larger  life  of  ideal  relationships  from 
which  these  writers  regard  the  dealings  of  friends.  The 
topic  of  right  attitudes  toward  a  friend  broadens  out  readily 
into  such  considerations  as  treating  persons  aright  for  their 
own  sake  or  regarding  them  as  ends  per  se,  a  dead  abstrac- 
tion when  approached  as  it  is  by  Kant,  but  a  living  reality 
when  the  students  get  Aristotle's  point  about  magnanimous 
treatment  of  friends.  They  can  then  proceed  by  way  of 
contrast  to  note,  for  example,  how  this  magnanimity  was 
limited  to  friends  in  the  upper  levels  of  Athenian  society, 
and  went  hand  in  hand  with  approval  of  slave  labor  and 
other  exploitations  which  a  modern  conscience  forbids. 
To  give  sharper  edge  to  the  conception  of  man  as  deserving 
right  treatment  for  his  own  sake,  the  class  might  go  on 
to  examine  other  notable  violations  of  personality  in  past 
and  present;  e.g.,  slavery  (read  for  instance  Sparr's 
History  of  the  African  Slave  Trade)  or  the  more  recent 
cruelties  toward  the  natives  in  the  rubber  regions  of  the 
Congo  and  the  Amazon.  Reference  may  also  be  made 
(without  undue  emphasis)  to  the  white-slave  traffic  of  today 
and  the  fact  be  noted  that  a  right  sense  of  chivalry  will 
keep  a  man  from  partnership  in  the  degradation  which 
creates  both  the  demand  for  white  slavery  and  ultimately 
its  supply.  We  mention  this  to  show  how  a  common  prac- 
tical interest  can  be  employed  to  introduce  the  students  to  so 
fundamental  an  ethical  conception  as  the  idea  of  inviolable 
human  worth.  It  may,  no  doubt,  be  highly  unconventional 
for  them  to  begin  with  a  discussion  of  friendship  and  after 
a  few  periods  find  themselves  absorbed  in  these  other  ques- 
tions; but  if  care  is  exercised  to  sum  up  and  to  emphasize 


The  Teaching  of  Ethics  323 

the  big  conceptions  underlying  the  topic,  we  may  be  sure 
that  their  grasp  of  the  subject  will  be  no  less  firm  than 
under  the  older  method.  Their  acquaintance  with  a  study 
requiring  hard,  abstract  thinking  will  surely  not  be  hurt, 
to  say  the  least,  by  an  introduction  which  is  concrete  and 
practical. 

Or  take  another  matter  of  real  concern  to  the  student 
at  this  period  of  his  life.     He  is  certain  to  be  giving  some 
thought   to   the  matter  of  his   future  vocation;    and   here 
again  is  a  topic  which,  properly  handled,  broadens  out  into 
the  most  far-reaching  inquiries.     It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
as  yet  the  vocational-guidance  movement  has  been  occupied 
in  the  main  with  external  features  —  comparing  jobs,  mak- 
ing objective  tests  of  efficiency,  and  so  on.     The  central 
ethical  conceptions  are  usually  slighted.     That  one's  voca-  | 
tion  is  a  prime  influence  in  the  shaping  of  personality  in  j 
oneself,  in  one's  fellow  workers,  in  the  public  served  (or  I 
disserved)  by  one's  work,  in  the  world  of  nations  in  so  far  r 
as  war  and  peace  are  connected  with  commerce  and  other  / 
interchange    of    vocational    products  —  all    this    is    matter 
for  the  teacher  who  wishes  the  ethics  course  to  work  over 
into    better    living.^     Nor    again,    as   will    be   noted    later 
in  the  chapter,  need  the  claims  of  the  subject  as  a  scholarly 
discipline   suffer   from  such  treatment.     Questions  of  the 
nature  of  moral  standards,  of  the  distinction  between  ex- 
pedient and   right,  etc.,  can  be  taken  up  more  profitably 
when,  instead  of  dealing  with  the  academic  questions  form- 
ing the  stock  in  trade  of  most  textbooks,  the  course  ex-[ 
amines  a  few  vocations,  let  us  say,  business,  teaching,  art,  j 
law,  medicine, —  in   the  light  of  such   standards  as  these: 
A    history    of   the   calling;    e.g.,   what   has    it   contributed 
to  the  elevation  of  mankind,  to  the  development  of  the  arts 
and  sciences,  and  to  specific  kinds  of  human  betterment? 
What  is  the  best  service  it  can  accomplish  today?     What 
traits  does  it  require  in  those  who  pursue  it?     What  traits  i 

1  See  Adler:  The  Present  fTorld-Crisis  and  Its  Meaning,  chapter 
on  *' An  Ethical  Program  of  Social  Reform";  also  An  Ethical 
Philosophy  of  Life,  Chapters  3,  4.  5.  6,  7. 


324  College  Teaching 

is  it  likely  to  encourage  in  them  for  better  and  for  worse? 
Report  on  great  leaders  in  the  calling,  with  special  refer- 
ence to  what  their  work  made  of  them.  What  are  the 
darker  sides  of  the  picture?  What  efforts  are  being  made 
today  to  raise  the  moral  code  in  this  vocation?  Sum  up 
the  ideal  rewards. 

We  do  not  mean,  of  course,  that  the  only  problems  are 
those  which  center  around  the  demands  of  today  for  a  more 
just  economic  and  social  order.  On  the  contrary,  we  be- 
lieve that  the  movement  for  social  justice  is  greatly  in 
need  of  precisely  that  appreciation  of  the  claims  of  moral 
personality  which  it  is  the  main  business  of  ethical  study 
to  promote.  But  we  shall  never  get  our  students  to  profit 
from  their  work  in  social  ethics,  or  in  ethical  theory,  or 
in  any  branch  of  the  subject  whatever,  unless  we  keep 
fresh  and  close  the  contact  with  their  own  experiences 
and  ambitions. 

Indeed,  we  venture  to  assert  that  unless  this  connection 
is  kept  unbroken,  the  subject  is  not  ethics  at  all  but  an 
abstraction  which  ought  to  take  some  other  name.  Ethics 
deals  with  human  volitions;  but  the  latter  term  is  meaning- 
less to  the  student  save  as  he  interprets  it  by  his  own  ex- 
periences in  the  preference  of  better  ways  to  lower.  He 
knows  the  difficulties  that  arise  in  his  own  group-associa- 
tions,—  his  home  or  his  class  or  his  club,  for  example, 
—  the  conflicts  of  ambitions,  the  readiness  to  shirk 
one's  share  of  common  responsibility,  the  discordant  prides 
and  appetites  of  one  sort  and  another  which  lead  to  overt 
injustices.  All  these  should  be  used  to  throw  light  upon 
the  living  moral  problems  of  group-life  in  the  vocations, 
in  the  civic  world,  in  the  international  order. 

Temperamentally,  to  be  sure,  the  teacher  may  be  in- 
clined to  handle  his  subject  in  what  he  prefers  to  regard 
as  academic  detachment.  But  where  the  subject  is  ethics 
and  not  dead  print,  complete  aloofness  is  out  of  the 
question.  There  would  be  no  textbooks  in  ethics  if  the 
men  whose  convictions  are  there  recorded  had  not  grappled 
earnestly  with  problems  of  vital  moment  to  their  day  and 


The  Teaching  of  Ethics  325 

generation.  The  crucial  questions  raised  by  a  changing 
Athenian  democracy  were  no  matters  of  air-bom  specula- 
tion to  Socrates  and  Plato  and  Aristotle.  Nor  is  it  an 
accident  that  the  philosopher  who  so  sought  to  vindicate 
the  worth  of  man  as  an  end  per  se  should  have  sent  from 
his  apparently  isolated  study  in  Konigsberg  his  glad  ac- 
claim of  the  French  Revolution.  The  abounding  interest 
of  the  English  Utilitarians  in  the  economics,  the  politics, 
the  social  reform,  of  the  nineteenth  century  needs  no  com- 
ment. There  are  texts  for  study  today  because  the  men 
who  wrote  them  were  keenly  concerned  about  a  nobler 
mode  of  life  for  mankind.  To  invite  the  student  to  share 
their  reflections  without  expecting  worthier  conduct  is  to 
ignore  the  essential  purpose  by  which  those  reflections  were 
prompted. 

Hence  our   first   recommendation  —  that  the  content  of   Governing 
the  ethics  courses  be  determined  by  the  principal  aim  of  teaching 
so  interpreting  the  experiences  and  interests  of  the  student 
as  to  stimulate  worthier  behavior  through  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  general  problem  of  right  human  relation- 
ships. 

Our  second  recommendation  as  to  aims  is  suggested  by 
certain  extremes  in  the  practice  of  today.  Reference  to 
problems  of  immediate  concern  does  not  mean  that  ultimate 
considerations  are  to  be  shelved.  Indeed,  it  must  rather 
be  stressed  that  such  discussions  miss  their  best  object,  if 
they  fail  to  lead  to  searching  reflection  upon  ultimate 
standards.  The  temptation  to  forego  such  inquiry  today 
is  strong.  In  their  desire  to  be  practical  and  up-to-date, 
many  teachers  are  altogether  too  ready  to  rest  the  case 
for  moral  obligation  upon  a  kind  of  easy-going  hedonism, 
the  fallacy  of  provisionalism,  as  Professor  Felix  Adler  calls 
it.  Tangible  "  goods  "  like  happiness  or  "  social  values  " 
are  held  up  as  standards,  as  if  these  values  were  ends 
in  themselves  and  the  problem  of  an  ultimate  human 
worth  were  irrelevant. 

It  may  very  well  be  a  modest  attitude  to  say  that  we 
can   no    longer    busy   ourselves   with   the   nature   of   ulti- 


326  College  Teaching 

mate  ends  and  that  we  can  best  employ  our  energies  in 
trying  to  define  the  various  goods  which  contribute  now 
and  here  to  human  betterment.  Let  the  effort  be  made, 
by  all  means.  But  when  the  last  of  empirical  goods  have 
been  examined  and  appraised  (assuming  for  the  moment 
that  we  can  indeed  appraise  without  possessing  ultimate 
norms)  the  cardinal  question  still  waits  for  answer:  To 
what  are  all  these  goods  instrumental?  What  kind  of  life 
is  best?  What  is  it  that  permits  man,  with  all  his  faults, 
his  sordid  appetites,  his  meannesses  and  gross  dishonors, 
to  hold  his  head  erect  as  one  yet  worthy  of  the  tribute 
implied  in  the  fact  that  we  have  duties  toward  him? 

An  answer  satisfying  to  all  may  never  be  reached;  but 
to  evade  these  questions  is  to  abdicate  the  teacher's  func- 
tion. Many  young  people  are  led  by  the  biologic  teachings 
of  the  day  to  regard  man  as  the  utterly  helpless  product 
of  his  environment.  Or  they  are  so  impressed  with  the 
obvious  and  immediate  needs  of  whole  masses  for  better 
food,  better  homes,  greater  opportunities  for  culture,  that 
they  do  not  stop  to  ask  whether  these  goods  are  worth 
while  in  themselves,  or  if  not,  what  is  the  deeper  purpose 
to  which  they  should  minister,  A  conception  of  person- 
ality is  needed,  sufficiently  exalted  to  permit  the  various 
immediate  utilities  to  find  their  due  place  as  tributes  to 
the  ideal  excellence  latent  in  man;  and  on  the  other  hand 
there  is  need  for  a  view  of  the  spiritual  life  free  from 
the  misuse  to  which  that  term  is  put  by  the  various  cults 
evoked  by  reaction  against  modern  mechanism.  Pains- 
taking inquiry  into  the  grounds  upon  which  the  assurance 
of  human  dignity  can  justify  itself,  has  never  been  more 
urgently  required.^ 

1  From  this  point  of  view  the  ethical  justification  for  the  war  on  the 
slum  becomes:  (a)  to  make  possible  for  the  slum-dweller  the  bet- 
ter performance  of  his  various  duties  as  parent,  worker,  citizen;  (6) 
to  drive  home  to  all  concerned  the  meaning  of  interdependence;  (c) 
to  clarify  for  all  of  us  the  ideals  to  which  better  living  conditions 
should  minister.  There  is  every  need  today  to  further  the  convic- 
tion that  the  highest  service  we  can  perform  for  another  is  not  to 
make  him  happier,  but  to  help  him  make  himself  a  better  person 
through  the  better  performance  of  his  duties. 


The  Teaching  of  Ethics 


327 


Let  us  beware  of  surrendering  to  the  common  but  often 
pernicious  demand  of  our  swift-moving  America  that  in 
order  to  receive  consideration  a  new  idea  should  prove 
itself  capable  of  yielding  immediate  dividends.  There 
seems  to  be  a  certain  hesitancy  today  among  some  in  our 
educated  classes  about  speaking  of  "  ideals."  Ideals  con- 
note a  long  look  ahead.  They  imply  a  sense  that  there 
is  something  perfect  even  though  the  steps  toward  embody- 
ing or  approximating  it  will  be  many  and  arduous,  per- 
haps discouragingly  hard.  They  betoken  the  likelihood  of 
appearing  before  men  as  the  victims  of  ultimately  unwork- 
able dreams.  In  refreshing  contrast  is  the  seeming  prac- 
ticability of  encouraging  present  tendencies.  Your  ten- 
dency is  no  far-off  projection  of  mere  thought;  it  is 
something  solid  and  "  real,"  here  and  now,  respected  at 
the  bank,  in  the  newspaper  office,  and  other  meeting  places 
of  those  whose  heads  are  hard.  Tendencies  turn  elections; 
ideals  carry  no  such  palpable  witness  of  their  power. 
"  Hence  let  us  study  tendencies." 

This  characterization  is  perhaps  extreme,  but  the  danger 
to  which  it  refers  is  all  too  frequent.  A  strike,  for  instance, 
sets  most  of  us  to  discussing  ways  by  which  this  particular 
disturbance  can  be  ended  quickly.  It  is  only  the  few 
who  are  willing  to  hold  in  mind  both  terms  of  the  prob- 
lem, namely  the  procedure  for  tomorrow  morning  and  the 
positive  ideal  toward  which  all  our  vocational  life  should 
set  its  face  even  if  the  distant  tomorrow  is  still  so  far 
ahead.  So  of  our  conceptions  of  political  life.  A  given 
election  may  indeed  involve  an  immediate  moral  issue;  but 
even  the  issue  of  next  month  can  be  faced  properly  only 
when  it  is  related  to  an  ideal  of  public  life  which  may  have 
to  wait  long  years  for  appreciation  by  the  majority. 
Nothing  is  more  necessary  in  a  democracy  than  a  leader- 
ship trained  in  the  long  forward  look,  trained  in  distinguish- 
ing morally  right  and  morally  wrong  from  expedient,  and 
best  from  merely  better,  trained  in  the  courage  to  cham- 
pion a  distant  ideal  in  the  face  of  clamor  to  accept  some 
inferior  but  belligerently  present  substitute. 


Ideals  and 
tfindencles 
in  ethics 
teaching 


328 


College  Teaching 


Course  in 
ethics  pre- 
scribed, and 
early  in  col- 
lege course 


Sequence 
determined 
by  develop- 
ment of  the 
student 


In  short,  the  student  should  be  offered  every  encourage- 
ment to  thinking  out  the  ultimate  obligations  of  his  own  life 
and  of  his  various  groups  and  to  reaching  the  conviction  that 
there  is  such  a  reality  as  a  permanent  human  worth,  a  fun- 
damentally right  way  for  men  and  women  to  seek,  a  right- 
ness  whose  authority  is  undiminished  by  the  blunders  of  the 
human  mind  in  trying  to  define  it.  An  ever  more  earnest 
attempt  to  find  that  way,  and  to  find  it  by  practice  illumined 
by  all  the  knowledge  that  can  be  brought  to  bear,  should 
be  the  leading  object.  Not  a  series  of  definitions  and  quo- 
tations, nor  yet  a  little  information  about  the  social  move- 
ments of  our  time,  but  a  truer  understanding  of  life  as 
the  result  of  interpreting  it  in  terms  of  the  obligation  to 
create  right  human  adjustments  —  such  an  aim  saves  college 
ethics  alike  from  dryness  and  from  superficial  attempts 
to  sprinkle  interest  over  a  subject  of  inherent  and  intense 
practical  importance. 

It  is  not  essential  that  an  introductory  course  in  ethics 
should  enter  into  the  philosophy  of  religion.  This  may  be 
left  to  other  agencies,  like  the  church,  or  to  later  courses, 
with  every  confidence  that  the  outcome  will  be  sound  if 
mind  and  soul  and  will  (to  use  the  old  formula)  are  first 
enlisted  in  behalf  of  noble  conduct.  Whatever  thinking  the 
student  may  do  along  these  lines  will  be  the  better  if  its 
nurture  is  drawn  first  from  moral  thinking  and  moral 
practice.^ 

From  the  foregoing  it  follows  that  the  ethics  course 
should  be  taken  by  all  the  students.  The  earlier  it  can  be 
given  the  better,  inasmuch  as  its  demands  upon  their  con- 
duct apply  to  all  the  years  of  their  life,  and  because  the 
whole  career  at  college  is  more  likely  to  benefit  from  be- 
ginning early  such  reflections  as  this  study  particularly 
invites. 

The  sequence  of  courses  will  perhaps  be  best  deter- 
mined by  remembering  the  need  of  following  the  natural 
growth '  of  the  student.     Experiences  come  first  and  then 

1  Note    the    emphasis    placed    by    modern    philosophy    upon    ethical 
value  as  the  point  of  approach  to  the  problem  of  Godhead. 


The  Teaching  of  Ethics 


329 


the  interpretations.  Hence  the  insistence  upon  the  prac- 
tical content  of  the  introductory  courses.  Theory  and  his- 
tory should  follow,  not  precede.  Nobody  is  interested  in 
the  history  or  the  theory  of  a  thing  unless  he  is  interested 
in  the  thing  itself.  Furthermore,  we  must  bear  in  mind 
the  needs  of  those  students  who  are  not  likely  to  care 
enough  for  the  more  theoretical  aspects  to  continue  the  sub- 
ject. If  the  introductory  course  is  to  be  all  that  they  take, 
obviously  the  more  practical  we  can  make  it  the  better. 

As  to  method,  a  variety  of  profitable  ways  abounds  if 
only  the  contact  with  life  is  kept  close  and  the  principles 
studied  are  tested  by  their  outcome  in  the  life  which  the 
student  knows  best.  In  general,  the  best  procedure  is  to 
work  back  from  concrete  instances  to  the  principles  under- 
lying the  problem,  formulate  the  principles  and  test  them 
in  other  fields.  Our  illustrative  strike,  for  instance,  can  be 
used  to  throw  light  upon  the  actual  and  the  ideal  prin- 
ciples involved  in  human  relationship  in  some  such  manner 
as  the  following: 

What  do  the  employers  want?  What  do  they  mean  by 
liberty?  What  were  the  circumstances  under  which  Mill 
formulated  his  principle  of  "  liberty  within  the  limits  of 
non-infringement?  "  What  have  been  the  consequences  in 
America  of  reliance  upon  this  formula?  Why  does  it  break 
down  in  practice?  Compare  it  with  the  theory  of  the 
balance  of  power  in  international  relations.  What  is  likely 
to  be  the  effect  of  the  possession  of  power  upon  the  posses- 
sor himself? 

Restate  the  ideal  of  liberty  in  terms  of  duty,  not  of  privi- 
lege. What  are  the  obstacles  to  the  fulfillment  of  such 
an  ideal  in  industry?  In  homes?  What  are  the  personal 
obstacles  to  clear  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  right? 

What  do  the  workers  want?  Examine  each  of  their  de- 
mands —  shorter  hours,  more  pay,  recognition  of  the  union, 
etc.  What  should  the  granting  of  these  demands  con- 
tribute to  their  lives?  Give  instances  to  show  whether 
"  better  off  "  means  better  persons  or  not. 

Compare  the  working  man's  use  of  the  word  "  liberty  " 


In  teaching 
ethics  fol- 
low the 
maxim  from 
the  con- 
crete to  the 
abstract 


Method  of 
procedure  il- 
lustrated 


330 


College  Teaching 


with  that  of  the  employer.  Why  do  workers  often  become 
oppressors  when  they  themselves  become  employers?  What 
is  the  difference  between  demanding  a  redress  of  your 
grievance  and  making  a  moral  demand?  What  makes  the 
cry  of  fraternity  as  uttered  by  the  workers  repugnant  to 
those  who  otherwise  would  accept  fraternity  as  an  ideal? 

How  would  you  formulate  the  ideal  for  the  vocational 
life  of  the  factory  worker?  Apply  it  to  other  vocations 
—  journalism,  law,  teaching.  Sum  up  the  ideal  rewards 
of  work. 

Make  tentative  definitions  of  liberty,  rights,  duty,  justice. 


Place  of 
the  text- 
book in 
ethics  teach- 
ing 


Each  of  the  questions  mentioned  above  —  and  many  more 
will  occur  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  —  furnishes  occa- 
sion for  extended  considerations  that  call  upon  the  student 
for  scholarly  gathering  of  facts,  for  close  thinking,  and  — 
not  least  —  for  reflection  upon  his  own  experiences  and 
volitions.  Other  problems  will  suggest  themselves.  It  is 
obvious  how  the  interest  of  the  student  in  prison  reform, 
for  example,  can  be  employed  in  like  manner  as  a  motive  to 
searching  reflection  upon  questions  of  moral  responsibility. 
The  principle  that  punishment  should  be  a  means  of 
awaking  in  the  ofi"ender  the  consciousness  of  a  self  which 
can  and  should  hold  itself  to  account  despite  the  magnitude 
of  its  temptations  is  of  special  usefulness,  in  the  years 
when  a  broadening  altruism  (and  we  might  add,  a  tendency 
to  self-pity)  is  likely  to  lead  to  loose  notions  of  personal 
obligation. 

The  use  of  a  textbook  is  a  minor  matter.  To  prevent  the 
courses  from  running  off^  into  mere  talk  —  and  even  ethics 
classes  are  not  averse  to  "  spontaneous  "  recitation  on  their 
own  part  or  to  monologues  by  the  teacher  —  a  textbook  may 
be  required,  with,  let  us  say,  monthly  reports  or  examina- 
tions. So  much  depends,  however,  upon  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  instructor  that  here  particularly  recommendations  can 
be  only  of  the  most  general  kind.  Some  of  the  most  eff"ec- 
tive  work  in  this  subject  is  being  done  by  teachers  who 
forget  the  textbook  for  weeks  at  a  time  in  order  to  push 


The  Teacliing  of  Ethics 


831 


home  a  valuable  inquiry  suggested  by  an  unforeseen  prob- 
lem raised  in  the  course  of  the  discussion.  Others  use 
no  textbooks  at  all.  Some  outline  the  year's  work  in  a 
series  of  cases  or  problems  with  questions  to  be  answered 
in  writing  after  consulting  selected  passages  in  the  classics 
or  in  current  literature  or  in  both.^  This  method  has  the 
advantage  of  laying  out  the  whole  year's  work  beforehand 
and  of  guaranteeing  that  the  student  comes  to  the  class- 
room with  something  more  than  a  facility  in  unpremedi- 
tated utterance.  It  is  generally  found  to  be  of  greater  in- 
terest because  it  follows  the  lines  of  his  own  ordinary 
thinking  —  first  the  problem  and  then  the  attempt  to  find 
the  principles  that  will  help  to  solve  it. 

More  important  than  any  of  these  details  of  technique 
is  the  need  of  helping  the  student  to  clarify  his  thinking  by 
engaging  in  some  practical  moral  endeavor.  The  broaden- 
ing and  deepening  of  the  altruistic  interests  is  a  familiar 
feature  of  adolescent  life.  The  instructor  in  ethics,  in  the 
very  interest  of  his  own  subject,  is  the  one  who  should  take 
the  lead  in  encouraging  these  expressions,  not  only  because 
of  the  general  obligation  of  the  college  to  make  the  most 
of  aptitudes  which,  neglected  in  youth,  may  never  again 
be  so  vigorous,  but  also  because  of  the  truth  in  Aristotle's 
dictum  that  insight  is  shaped  by  conduct.  Hence  the  work 
in  ethics  should  be  linked  up  wherever  possible  with  student 
self-government  and  other  participation  in  the  management 
of  the  college,  and  with  philanthropies  like  work  in  settle- 
ments or  in  social  reform  groups  or  cosmopolitan  societies. 
For  the  students  of  finer  grain  it  is  eminently  worth  the 
trouble  to  form  clubs  to  intensify  the  spirit  of  the  members 
by  activities  more  pointedly  directed  to  the  refining  of 
human  relationships.  They  might  engage  in  activities  in 
which  the  task  of  elevating  the  personality  is  specially 
marked,  that  is,  in  problems  which  have  to  do  with  mutual 

1  Professor  Sharp  of  Wisconsin  has  found  this  method  so  serviceable 
that  he  has  interested  many  teachers  in  his  state  and  elsewhere  in 
using  it  with  high  school  students  for  purposes  of  moral  instruction. 
See  "  A  Course  in  Moral  Instruction  for  High  Schools,"  by  F.  C. 
Sharp;  Bulletin,  University  of  Wisconsin. 


Moral  con- 
cepts deep- 
ened by  par- 
ticipation 
in  social  or 
philan- 
thropic en- 
deavors 


332 


College  Teaching 


Peculiar 
difficulty 
of  applying 
usual  test 
to  courses 
in  ethics 


interpretation  —  e.g.,  black  folk  and  white,  foreign  and 
native  stocks  in  America,  delinquents  and  the  community, 
immigrant  parents  and  unsympathetic  children.  They 
might  organize  clubs  for  one  or  more  of  these  purposes, 
for  discussing  intimately  the  problems  of  personal  life,  for 
public  meetings  on  the  ethics  of  the  vocations  and  on  the 
more  distinctly  ethical  phases  of  political  and  international 
progress.  Such  organizations  can  be  made  to  do  vastly  more 
'  good  for  their  members  then  the  average  debating  society, 
with  its  usual  premium  on  mere  forensic  skill,  or  the  fra- 
ternity, with  its  encouragement  of  snobbishness.  The 
wholesome  thing  about  the  spirit  of  fraternity  should  be  set 
to  work  upon  some  such  creative  activities  as  we  have  men- 
tioned. Not  only  does  the  comradeship  strengthen  faith  in 
right  doing,  but  these  practical  endeavors  offer  a  notable 
help  to  the  deepening,  extending,  and  clarifying  of  that  in- 
terest in  moral  progress  without  which  there  can  be  none 
of  the  intelligent  leadership  for  which  our  democracy  looks 
to  its  colleges. 

To  test  how  far  the  subject  has  been  of  value  to  the 
student  is  unusually  difficult.  His  interest  in  the  discussions 
is  by  no  means  an  unfailing  index.  There  are  those  who 
may  be  both  eager  and  skilled  in  the  intellectual  combat 
incidental  to  the  course  but  whose  lives  remain  untouched 
for  the  better.  The  worthier  outcome  is  hard  to  trace. 
It  is  quite  possible  for  the  teacher  to  take  credit  for  the 
instilling  of  an  ideal  whose  generation  was  due  to  some 
agency  wholly  unknown,  perhaps  even  to  the  student  him- 
self. On  the  other  hand,  the  best  results  may  take  years 
for  overt  appearance.  In  the  nature  of  the  case,  their 
more  intimate  expressions  can  never  be  recorded. 

Moreover,  students  vary  in  the  force  of  character  which 
they  bring  with  them  to  the  study.  A  lad  whose  home 
training  has  been  deficient  may  take  more  time  than  the  best 
teacher  can  give  in  order  to  reach  the  degree  of  excellence  to 
which  others  among  his  classmates  ascend  more  quickly 
Or  a  lad  whom  the  course  has  moved  with  a  desire  to  take 
up   some  philanthropic   endeavor  may   hesitate  to   pursue 


The  Teaching  of  Ethics  333 

it  through  lack  of  the  necessary  gift  or  failure  in  self- 
confidence.  The  forces  which  enter  into  the  making  of 
character  are  so  complex,  including  as  they  do  not  only 
acquisitions  of  new  moral  standards,  but  temperamental 
qualities,  early  training,  potent  example,  physical  stamina, 
dozens  of  a,ccidental  circumstances,  that  it  is  unfair  to  use 
the  tests  applicable,  let  us  say,  to  a  course  in  engineering. 
Hence  we  must  be  beware  of  testing  the  value  of  the  work 
by  immediate  results.  Something  may  be  gathered  by  hav- 
ing the  students  write  confidentially  what  they  think  the 
course  has  done  for  them  and  where  it  could  be  improved. 
This  they  can  do  both  at  the  end  of  the  course  and  years 
later  when  time  has  brought  perspective.  But  tests  are 
of  minor  importance.  The  ethical  shortcomings  of  our 
time,  the  constant  need  of  our  students  for  ever  finer 
standards,  convey  challenge  enough.  Even  though  the  ob- 
vious results  fall  short  of  our  hopes,  we  can  make  the 
most  of  our  resources  with  every  assurance  that  they  are 
amply  needed.  Are  young  men  more  likely  to  be  the 
better  for  setting  time  aside  to  obtain  with  the  help  of 
an  earnest  student  of  life  a  clearer  insight  into  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  best  living?  If  they  are,  the  courses  are 
justified,  even  though  some  who  take  them  can  show  little 
iirunediate  profit. 

Henry  Neumann,  Ph.D. 

Ethical  Culture  School,  New  York 


XVI 

I 

THE  TEACHING  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 


PIac»  of  psy- 
chology in 
the  curricu- 
lum 


The  intro- 
ductory 
course  to 
he  general, 
not  Yoca- 
tionally 
applied  psy- 
chology 


HISTORICALLY,  as  an  offshoot,  and  rather  a  re- 
cent offshoot,  from  philosophy,  psychology  has  been 
under  the  care  of  the  department  of  philosophy  in 
colleges  and  universities,  foreign  as  well  as  Ameri- 
can, and  has  been  taught  by  professors  concerned 
in  part  with  the  courses  in  philosophy.  Though  this 
state  of  affairs  still  obtains  to  a  considerable  extent, 
the  tendency  is  undoubtedly  towards  allowing  psychology 
an  independent  position  in  the  organization  and  curriculum 
of  the  college.  In  recent  appointments,  indeed,  the  affili- 
ation of  psychology  with  education  has  frequently  been 
emphasized  instead  of  its  affiliation  with  philosophy,  for 
the  professional  applications  of  psychology  lie  more  in 
the  field  of  education  than  elsewhere.  As  a  required  study, 
our  science  is  more  likely  to  find  a  place  in  the  college 
for  teachers  than  in  the  college  of  arts.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  applications  to  medicine,  business,  and  industry 
are  increasing  so  rapidly  in  importance  as  to  make  it  logi- 
cal to  maintain  an  independent  position  for  the  science. 
Only  in  an  independent  position  can  the  psychologist  be 
free  to  cultivate  the  central  body  of  his  subject,  the 
"pure"  as  distinguished  from  the  applied  science;  and, 
with  the  multiplication  of  practical  applications,  it  is  more 
than  ever  important  to  center  psychological  teaching  in 
the  person  of  some  one  who  is  simply  and  distinctively  a 
psychologist. 

For  a  similar  reason,  psychologists  are  wont  to  insist  that 
the  introductory  course  in  their  subject,  no  matter  for  what 
class  of  students,  with  general  or  with  professional  aims, 
should  be  definitely  a  course  in  psychology  as  distinguished 
from  educational  or  medical  or  business  psychology. 
Illustrative  material  may  very  well  be  chosen  with  an  eye 
to  the  special  interests  of  a  class  of  students,  but  the  gen- 

334 


The  Teaching  of  Psychology  335 

eral  principles  should  be  the  same  for  all  classes,  and 
should  not  be  too  superficially  treated  in  the  rush  for 
practical  applications.  Some  years  ago,  a  Committee  of 
the  American  Psychological  Association  was  appointed  to 
make  a  survey  of  the  teaching  of  psychology  in  universities, 
colleges,  and  normal  schools,  and  the  Report  of  this  Com- 
mittee (1),  still  the  most  important  contribution  to  the 
pedagogy  of  the  subject,  emphasizes  the  concurrent  view 
of  psychologists  to  the  effect  just  stated,  that  the  study  of 
psychology  should  begin  with  a  course  in  the  central  body 
of  doctrine.  The  psychological  point  of  view  must  be 
acquired  before  intelligent  application  can  be  made, 
whether  to  practical  pursuits  or  to  other  branches  of  study 
such  as  philosophy  and  the  social  sciences,  to  which 
psychology  stands  in  the  relation  of  an  ancillary  science. 

During  the  war,  the  applications  of  psychology  in  the 
testing  and  selection  of  men  and  training  them  for  specified 
military  and  naval  work,  in  rating  officers,  in  morale  and 
intelligence  work,  and  in  several  other  lines,  became  so 
important  that  it  was  decided  to  give  psychology  a  place 
as  an  "  allied  subject "  in  the  curriculum  of  the  Students' 
Army  Training  Corps;  and  the  report  of  the  committee  of 
psychologists  that  prepared  the  outline  of  a  course  for  this 
purpose  deserves  attention  as  a  contribution  to  the  pedagogy 
of  the  subject.  They  proposed  a  course  on  "  Human 
Action,"  to  be  free  from  questions  of  a  speculative  or 
theoretical  nature  and  concentrated  on  matters  relevant  to 
military  practice  and  the  military  uses  of  psychology.  The 
aim  was  to  enlist  the  student's  practical  concern  at  the  very 
outset,  and  to  give  him  the  psychological  point  of  view  as 
applied  to  his  problems  as  a  member  of  the  Army  and  a 
prospective  officer.  In  method,  the  course  was  to  depend 
little  on  lectures,  or  even  on  extensive  readings,  and  much 
on  the  student's  own  solution  of  practical  psychological 
problems.  Evidently  the  psychologists  who  prepared  this 
plan  were  driven  by  the  emergency  to  abandon  "  academic  " 
prepossessions  in  favor  of  a  course  in  pure  psychology 
as  the  necessary  prerequisite  to  any  study  of  applications; 


aao 


College  Teaching 


The  psy- 
chological 
point  of 
view  must 
be  empha- 
sized in  the 
introductory 
course 


Values  of 
the  study  of 
psychology 
—  cultural 
rather  than 
disciplinary 


and  it  is  quite  possible  that  courses  in  psychology  for 
different  groups  of  students  could  be  prepared  that  should 
follow  this  general  plan  and  be  intensely  practical  from 
the  start.  It  would  still  remain  true  that  the  thorough 
psychologist  should  be  the  one  to  plan  and  conduct  such 
courses. 

The  psychological  point  of  view  means  attentiveness  to 
certain  matters  that  are  neglected  in  the  usual  objective 
attitude  toward  things.  It  is  identified  by  many  with  in- 
trospection, but  there  is  at  present  considerable  dissent 
from  this  doctrine,  the  dissenters  holding  that  an  objective 
type  of  observation  of  human  behavior  is  distinctively 
psychological  and  probably  more  significant  and  fruitful 
than  the  introspective  attitude.  However  this  may  be,  both 
introspection  and  behavior  study  require  attention  to  mat- 
ters that  are  commonly  disregarded.  Every  one  is  of 
course  interested  in  what  people  do,  or  at  least  in  the  out- 
come of  their  activities;  but  psychology  is  interested  in  the 
activities  themselves,  in  how  the  outcome  is  reached  rather 
than  in  the  outcome  itself.  Ordinarily,  we  are  interested 
in  the  fact  that  an  inventor  has  solved  a  problem,  but 
regard  it  as  rather  irrelevant  if  he  proceeds  to  tell  us 
the  mental  process  by  which  he  reached  the  solution.  We 
are  interested  in  the  fact  that  a  child  has  learned  to  speak, 
but  devote  little  thought  to  the  question  as  to  how  he  has 
learned.  It  is  to  bring  such  psychological  questions  to 
light  and  arouse  intelligent  interest  in  them,  with  some 
knowledge  of  the  answers  that  have  been  found,  that  the 
psychologist  is  chiefly  concerned  when  initiating  beginners 
into  his  science.  This  primary  aim  is  accomplished  in  the 
case  of  those  students  who  testify,  as  some  do,  that  the 
course  in  psychology  has  "  opened  their  eyes  "  and  made 
them  see  life  in  a  diff"erent  light  than  hitherto. 

Whether  this  primary  value  of  psychology  is  to  be 
counted  among  the  disciplinary  or  among  the  cultural 
values  may  be  a  matter  of  doubt.  Psychologists  them- 
selves have  seldom  made  special  claims  in  behalf  of  their 
science  as  a  means  of  formal  discipline,  many  of  them,  in 


The  Teaching  of  Fsychologii  337 


The  practi- 
cal value 


fact,  taking  a  very  negative  position  with  regard  to  the 
whole  conception  of  such  discipline.  What  psychology 
can  give  of  general  value  is  a  point  of  view,  and  a  habit 
"of  attentiveness  to  the  mental  factor.  The  need  of  some 
systematic  attention  to  these  matters  often  comes  to  light 
in  the  queer  efforts  at  a  psychology  made  by  intelligent  but 
uninstructed  persons  in  the  presence  of  practical  problems 
involving  the  mental  factor. 

Besides  this  "  cultural  "  value,  and  besides  the  special 
uses  of  psychology  as  a  preparation  for  teaching  and  cer- 
tain other  professions,  there  is  a  very  real  and  practical 
value  to  be  expected  from  an  understanding  of  the  mental 
mechanism.  Since  every  one  works  with  this  mechanism, 
every  one  can  make  practical  use  of  the  science  of  it.  Most 
persons  get  on  passably  well,  perhaps,  without  any  expert 
knowledge  of  the  machinery  which  they  are  running;  yet 
the  machine  is  not  entirely  "  fool  proof,"  by  any  means, 
but  sometimes  comes  to  grief  from  what  is  in  essence  a 
lack  of  psychological  wisdom  either  in  the  person  himself 
or  in  his  close  companions.  Mental  hygiene,  in  short,  de- 
pends on  psychology.  The  college  student,  looking  for- 
ward to  a  life  of  mental  activity,  is  specially  in  a  position 
to  utilize  information  regarding  the  most  economical  work- 
ing of  the  mental  machine;  and,  as  a  matter  of  experience, 
some  students  are  considerably  helped  in  their  methods  of 
mental  work  by  what  they  learn  in  the  psychology  class. 
Among  the  results  of  recent  investigation  are  many  bearing 
on  economy  and  efficiency  of  mental  work.  This  value 
of  psychology,  it  will  be  seen,  is  practical  without  being 
professional  —  except  in  so  far  as  all  educated  men  can 
be  said  to  adopt  the  profession  of  mental  engineer.  Much 
more  emphasis  than  has  been  customary  might  well  be  laid 
on  this  side  of  the  subject  in  elementary  courses. 

The  content  of  the  first  course  in  psychology  is  just  now   Content  of 
undergoing  a  certain  amount  of  revision.     Traditionally  the   ductory 
aim  has  been,  not  so  much,  as  in  most  other  subjects,  to   pgy'hoiogy 
initiate  the  student  into  a  range  of  facts  lying  outside  his 
previous  experience,  as  to  bring  definitely  to  his  attention 


338 


College  Teaehing 


Methods  of 
teaching  psy- 
chology — 
Practical 
exercises 


facts  lying  within  the  experience  of  all,  and  to  cause  him  to 
classify  these  so  as  to  refer  any  given  mental  process  to 
the  class  or  classes  where  it  belongs.  This  calls  for 
definition,  the  making  of  distinctions,  the  analysis  of  com- 
plex facts,  the  use  of  a  technical  vocabulary,  and  in  general 
for  much  more  precision  of  statement  than  the  student  has 
been  used  to  employ  in  speaking  of  such  matters.  Some 
laws  of  mental  action,  verifiable  within  ordinary  experience, 
are  also  brought  to  light  in  such  a  course,  and  some  ac- 
count of  the  neural  mechanisms  of  mental  life  is  usually 
included;  but  its  chief  accomplishment  is  in  leading  the  stu- 
dent to  attend  to  mental  processes  and  gain  a  point  of 
view  that  may  remain  his  future  possession. 

With  the  great  expansion  of  psychological  knowledge  in 
recent  decades,  due  to  research  by  experimental  and  other 
empirical  methods,  it  has  become  possible  to  give  a  course 
more  informational  in  character  and  going  quite  beyond  the 
range  of  the  student's  previous  experience;  and  this  new 
material  is  finding  its  way  into  elementary  texts  and 
courses.  Many  of  the  results  of  research  are  not  at  all  be- 
yond the  comprehension  of  the  beginner;  indeed,  they  are 
often  more  tangible  than  the  distinctions  and  analyses  that 
give  the  stamp  to  the  traditional  course.  These  empirical 
results  also  have  the  advantage,  in  many  cases,  of  throwing 
light  on  the  practical  problems  of  mental  health  and  ef- 
ficiency; and  some  inclusion  of  such  material  is  desirable 
if  only  to  fit  the  needs  of  the  considerable  number  of 
students  who  cannot  become  interested  in  a  course  of  the 
traditional  sort.  Practice  in  this  matter  is  at  present  quite 
variable,  some  teachers  basing  the  introductory  course  as 
far  as  possible  on  the  results  of  experiment,  and  others 
adhering  closely  to  the  older  plan. 

There  is  certainly  some  advantage  in  keeping  the  first 
course  untechnical.  The  student  can  then  be  set  to  ob- 
serving for  himself,  instead  of  depending  on  books.  Many 
of  the  facts  of  psychology  are  so  accessible,  at  least  in  a 
rough  form,  as  to  make  the  subject  a  good  one  for  appeal- 
ing to  the  spirit  of  independence  in   the  student.     Some 


The  Teaching  of  Psychology  339 

teachers  are,  in  fact,  accustomed  to  introduce  each  part  of 
the  subject  by  exercises,  introspective  or  other,  designed  to 
bring  the  salient  facts  home  to  the  student  in  a  direct  way, 
before  he  has  become  inoculated  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
authorities.  "  The  essential  point  is  that  the  student  be  led 
to  observe  his  own  experience,  to  record  his  observation 
accurately — in  a  word,  to  psychologize;  and  to  make  the 
observation  before,  not  after,  discovering  from  book  or 
from  lecture  what  answers  are  expected  to  these  questions. 
Individual  experiments  should  so  far  as  possible  be  per- 
formed in  like  manner  before  the  class  discussion  of  typical 
results.  In  all  cases  the  results  of  these  introspections 
should  be  recorded  in  writing;  representative  records 
should  be  read  and  commented  on  in  class;  and  the  dis- 
cussion based  on  them  should  form  the  starting  point  for 
textbook  study  and  for  lecture."  The  plan  thus  highly 
recommended  by  Professor  Calkins  ^  she  found  not  to  be 
widely  used  at  the  time  of  her  inquiry;  a  commoner  prac- 
tice was  the  assignment  of  reading  for  the  student's  first 
introduction  to  a  given  topic.  This  alternative  plan  is  a 
line  of  less  resistance;  and  it  is  also  true  that  exercises  in 
original  observation  by  beginners  in  psychology  are  likely 
to  be  instructive  mostly  as  evidence  of  the  ineptness  of  the 
beginner  in  psychological  observation.  Moreover,  when 
the  content  of  the  course  is  informational  and  based  on  the- 
results  of  research,  preliminary  exercises  by.  the  student 
are  of  rather  limited  value,  though  they  still  could  serve 
a  useful  purpose  in  bringing  forcibly  to  his  attention  the 
problems  to  be  studied. 

The  use  of  "  exercises,"  somewhat  analogous  to  the  ex- 
amples of  algebra  or  the  "  originals  "  of  geometry,  is  quite 
widespread  in  introductory  courses  in  psychology,  and 
several  much-used  textbooks  offer  sets  of  exercises  with 
each  chapter.  Several  types  are  in  vogue:  (1)  some  call 
for  introspections,  as,  for  example,  "  Think  of  your  break- 
fast table  as  you  sat  down  to  it  this  morning  —  do  you  see 
it  clearly  as  a  scene  before  your  mind's  eye?  "   (2)   some 

1  In  Report,  pages  50-51. 


340  College  Teaching 

call  for  a  review  and  generalization  of  facts  presumably 
already  known,  as  "  Find  instances  of  the  dependence  of 
character  upon  habit;"  (3)  many  consist  of  simple  experi- 
ments demanding  no  special  apparatus  and  serving  to  give 
a  direct  acquaintance  with  matters  treated  in  the  text,  such 
as  after-images  or  fluctuations  of  attention;  and  (4)  many 
call  for  the  application  of  the  principles  announced  in  the 
text  to  special  cases,  the  object  being  to  "  give  the  student 
some  very  definite  thing  to  do"  (Thorndike),  in  doing 
which  he  will  secure  a  firm  hold  of  the  principles  in- 
volved. In  general,  teachers  of  psychology  aim  to  "  keep 
the  student  doing  things,  instead  of  merely  listening,  read- 
ing, or  seeing  them  done"  (Seashore,  1,  page  83).  In  a 
few  colleges,  laboratory  work  of  a  simple  character  forms 
part  of  the  introductory  course,  and  in  one  or  two  the 
laboratory  part  is  developed  to  a  degree  comparable  with 
what  is  common  in  chemistry  or  biology.  As  a  rule,  how- 
ever, considerations  of  time  and  equipment  have  prevented 
the  introduction  of  real  laboratory  work  into  the  first 
course  in  psychology. 
Classroom  Of  classroom  methods,   perhaps  all  that  are  employed 

The  le/ture  ^"  Other  subjects  find  application  also  in  psychology,  some 
teachers  preferring  one  and  some  another.  The  lecture 
method  is  employed  with  great  success  by  some  of  the 
•leaders,  who  devote  much  attention  to  the  preparation  of 
discourse  and  demonstrations.  One  professor  (anonymous) 
is  quoted^  as  follows: 
-|  "I  must  here  interject  my  4deas  on  the  lecture  system. 

The  lecture  has  a  twofold  advantage  over  the  recitation. 
(1)  It  is  economical,  since  one  man  handles  a  large  num- 
ber of  students;  the  method  of  recitation  is  extravagant. 
This  fact  alone  will  mean  the  retention  of  the  lecture  system, 
wherever  it  can  possibly  be  employed  with  success.  (2) 
It  is  educationally  the  better  method,  for  the  average  stu- 
dent and  the  average  teacher.  For  the  reconstruction  of  a 
lecture  from  notes  means   an  essay  in  original   work,  in 

*  By  Sanford,   1,  page  66. 


The  Teaching  of  Psychology  341 

original  thinking;  while  the  recitation  lapses  all  too  readily 
into  textbook  rote  and  verbal  repetition. 

"  It  is,  nevertheless,  true  that  sophomore  students  are  on 
the  whole  inadequate  to  a  lecture  course.  They  cannot 
take  notes;  they  cannot  tear  the  heart  out  of  a  lecture. 
(They  are  also,  I  may  add,  inadequate  to  the  reading  of 
textbooks  or  general  literature,  in  much  the  same  way.) 
Hence  one  has  to  supplement  the  lecture  by  syllabi,  by  lists 
of  questions  (indexes,  so  to  speak,  to  the  lectures),  and  by 
personal  interviews.  .  .  . 

"  The  sum  and  substance  of  my  recommendations  is  that 
you  provide  a  competently  trained  instructor,  and  let  him 
teach  psychology  as  he  best  can.  What  the  student  needs 
is  the  effect  of  an  individuality,  a  personality;  and  the 
lecture  system  provides  admirably  for  such  effect."  ^ 

Though  the  lecture  system  is  used  with  great  success  by  The 
a  number  ot  professors,  the  general  practice  mclmes  more 
to  the  plan  of  oral  recitations  on  assigned  readings  in  one 
or  more  texts,  and  large  classes  are  often  handled  in  several 
divisions  in  order  to  make  the  recitation  method  successful. 
Not  infrequently  a  combination  of  lectures  by  the  pro- 
fessor and  recitations  conducted  by  his  assistants  is  the  plan 
adopted,  the  lecturer  to  add  impressiveness  to  the  course, 
and  the  recitations  to  hold  the  student  up  to  his  work.  Writ- 
ten exercises,  such  as  those  already  mentioned,  are  often 
combined  with  the  oral  recitation;  and  in  some  cases  themes 
are  to  be  written  by  the  students.  Probably  the  seminar 
method,  in  which  the  subject  is  chiefly  presented  in  themes 
prepared  by  the  students,  is  never  attempted  in  the  intro- 
ductory course. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  number  of  successful  teachers  re-  Class 
ject  both  the  lecture  and  the  recitation  methods,  and  rely 
for  the  most  part  upon  class  discussions,  with  outside 
readings  in  the  textbooks,  and  frequent  written  recitations 
as  a  check  on  the  student's  work.  A  champion  of  the  dis- 
cussion method  writes  as  follows:  ^ 

'  Calkins,  1,  pages  47-48. 


discussion 


342  College  Teaching 

"  A  teacher  has  not  the  right  to  spend  any  considerable 
part  of  the  time  of  a  class  in  finding  out  by  oral  questions 
.  .  .  whether  or  not  the  student  has  done  the  work  as- 
signed to  him.  The  good  student  does  not  need  the  ques- 
tions and  is  bored  by  the  stumbling  replies  which  he  hears; 
and  even  the  poor  student  does  not  get  what  he  needs, 
which  is  either  instruction  a  deux,  or  else  a  corrected  writ- 
ten recitation.  .  .  .  Not  in  this  futile  way  should  the  in- 
structor squander  the  short  hours  spent  with  his  students. 
The  purpose  of  these  hours  is  twofold:  first,  to  give  to  the 
students  such  necessary  information  as  they  cannot  gain,  or 
cannot  so  expediently  gain,  in  some  other  way;  second,  and 
most  important,  to  incite  them  to  '  psychologize '  for  them- 
selves. The  first  of  these  purposes  is  best  gained  by  the 
lecture,  the  second  by  guided  discussion.  '  Guided  dis- 
cussion '  does  not  mean  a  reversal  of  the  recitation  proc- 
ess —  an  hour  in  which  students  ask  questions  in  any 
order,  and  of  any  degree  of  relevancy  and  seriousness, 
which  the  instructor  answers.  On  the  contrary,  the  in- 
structor initiates  and  leads  the  discussion;  he  chooses  its 
subject,  maps  out  its  field,  pulls  it  back  when  it  threatens 
to  transgress  its  bonds,  and,  from  time  to  time,  summarizes 
its  results.  This  he  does,  however,  with  the  least  possible 
show  of  his  hand.  He  puts  his  question  and  leaves  it  to 
the  student  interested  to  answer  him;  he  restates  the  bung- 
ling answer  and  the  confused  question;  he  leaves  one 
student  to  answer  the  difficulties  of  another.  .  .  .  The  ad- 
vantage of  the  discussion  over  the  lecture  is,  thus,  that  it 
fosters  in  the  student  the  active  attitude  of  the  thinker  in 
place  of  the  passive  attitude  of  the  listener.  .  .  . 
Obviously  it  is  simplest  to  teach  large  classes  by  lecturing 
to  them.  Yet  a  spirited  and  relevant  discussion  may  be 
conducted  in  a  class  of  a  hundred  or  so.  Of  course  no 
more  than  eight  or  twelve,  or,  at  most,  twenty  of  these  will 
take  even  a  small  part  on  a  given  day;  perhaps  a  half  or 
two  thirds  will  never  take  part;  and  some  will  remain  un- 
interested. But  there  will  be  many  intelligent  listeners  as 
well   as   active  participants;    and   these  gain   more,   I   be- 


The  Teaching  of  Psychology  343 

lieve,  by  the  give  and  take  of  a  good  discussion  than  by 
constant  lectures  however  effective." 

Brief  mention  should  be  made  of  a  form  of  class  ex-  Class 
ercise  peculiar  to  psychology,  the  "  class  experiment."  "**" 
This  is  in  some  respects  like  a  demonstration,  but  differs 
from  that  in  calling  for  a  more  active  participation  on  the 
part  of  the  student.  Any  psychological  experiment  is  per- 
formed on  a  human  (or  animal)  subject,  and  many  ex- 
periments can  be  performed  on  a  group  of  subjects  to- 
gether, each  of  them  being  called  on  to  perform  a  certain 
task  or  to  make  a  certain  observation.  Each  of  the  class 
having  made  his  individual  record,  the  instructor  may 
gather  them  together  into  an  average  or  summary  state- 
ment, and  the  individual  variations  as  well  as  the  general 
tendency  may  thus  be  brought  to  light.  Very  satisfactory 
and  even  scientific  experiments  can  thus  be  performed,  with 
genuine  results  instructive  to  the  class. 

Of  methods  of  holding  the  student  to  his  work,  mention  Checking 
has  already  been  made  of  the  much-used  written  recitation,  of  the 
The  usual  plan  is  to  have  frequent,  very  brief  written  ex- 
aminations. Sometimes  the  practice  is  to  correct  and  re- 
turn all  the  papers;  sometimes  to  place  them  all  on  file  and 
correct  samples  chosen  at  random  for  determining  the 
student's  "  term  mark."  A  plan  that  has  some  psycho- 
logical merit  is  to  follow  the  examination  immediately  by 
a  statement  of  the  correct  answers,  with  brief  discussion  of 
difficulties  that  may  arise,  and  to  ask  each  student  to  esti- 
mate the  value  of  his  own  paper  in  the  standard  marking 
system.  The  papers  are  then  collected  and  examined,  and 
returned  with  the  instructor's  estimate. 

Since  an  examination  is,  in  effect,  a  form  of  psycho- 
logical test,  it  is  natural  that  psychologists  should  have 
attempted  to  introduce  some  of  the  technique  of  psycho- 
logical testing  into  the  work  of  examining  students,  in  the 
interest  of  economy  of  the  student's  time  as  well  as  that 
of  the  examiner.  The  teacher  prepares  blanks  which  the 
student  can  quickly  fill  out  if  he  knows  the  subject,  not 
otherwise.     To  discover  how  far  the  student  has  attained 


students 


344 


College  Teaching 


Place  of 
psychology 
In  the  col- 
lege course 


a  psychological  point  of  view,  written  work  or  examination 
questions  often  demand  some  independence  in  the  applica- 
tion to  new  cases  of  what  has  been  learned.  Far-reaching 
tests  of  the  later  value  to  the  student  of  a  course  in 
psychology  have  not  as  yet  been  attempted. 

No  attempt  has  yet  been  made  to  obtain  the  consensus 
of  opinion  among  psychologists  as  to  whether  the  intro- 
ductory course  should  be  required  of  all  arts  students,  and 
probably  opinions  would  differ,  without  anything  definitive 
to  be  said  on  either  side.  In  quite  a  number  of  colleges 
psychology  forms  part  of  a  required  general  course  in 
philosophy.  Where  a  separation  has  occurred  between 
philosophy  and  psychology,  the  latter  is  seldom  absolutely 
required.  As  a  general  rule,  however,  the  introductory 
course,  even  if  not  required,  is  taken  by  a  large  share  of 
the  arts  students.  The  traditional  position  for  the  course  in 
psychology  is  late  in  the  college  curriculum,  originally  in 
the  senior  but  more  recently  in  the  junior  year.  In  many 
of  the  larger  colleges  it  is  now  open  to  sophomores  or  even 
to  freshmen.  One  motive  for  pushing  the  introductory 
course  back  into  the  earlier  years  is  naturally  to  provide 
for  more  advanced  courses  in  the  subject;  and  another  is 
the  desire  to  make  psychology  prerequisite  for  courses  in 
philosophy,  education,  or  sociology.  Still  another  motive 
tending  in  the  same  direction  is  the  desire  to  make  the 
practical  benefits  of  psychological  study  available  for  the 
student  in  the  further  conduct  of  his  work  as  a  student  in 
whatever  field.  If  considerable  attention  is  devoted  in  the 
introductory  course  to  questions  of  mental  hygiene  and 
efficiency,  the  advantage  of  bringing  these  matters  early  to 
the  attention  of  the  student  outweighs  the  objection  which 
is  often  raised  by  teachers  of  psychology,  as  of  other  sub- 
jects, to  admitting  the  younger  students,  on  the  ground  of 
immaturity.  The  teachers  who  get  the  younger  students 
may  have  to  put  up  with  immaturity  in  order  that  the  bene- 
fit of  their  teaching  may  be  carried  over  by  the  students 
into  later  parts  of  the  curriculum. 

When  the  introductory  course  in  psychology  forms  part 


The  Teaching  of  Psychology  345 


of  a  course  in  philosophy,  it  is  usually  restricted  to  one 
semester,  with  three  hours  of  class  work  per  week.  When 
psychology  is  an  independent  subject  in  the  curriculum,  a 
two-semester  course  is  usually  provided,  since  it  is  the 
feeling  of  psychologists  that  this  amount  of  time  is  needed 
in  order  to  make  the  student  really  at  home  in  the  subject, 
and  to  realize  for  him  the  values  that  are  looked  for  from 
psychology.  Often  there  is  a  break  between  the  two 
semesters  of  such  a  course,  the  second  being  devoted  to 
advanced  or  social  or  applied  psychology.  Sometimes,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  two-semester  course  is  treated  as  a  unit, 
the  various  topics  being  distributed  over  the  year;  this 
latter  procedure  is  probably  the  one  that  finds  most  favor 
with  psychologists.  Still,  good  results  can  be  obtained 
with  the  semester  course  supplemented  by  other  courses. 

The  most  frequent  advanced  course  is  one  in  experimental 
psychology.  This  is  taken  by  only  a  small  fraction  of 
those  who  have  taken  the  introductory  course,  partly  be- 
cause the  laboratory  work  attached  to  the  experimental 
course  demands  considerable  time  from  the  student,  partly 
because  students  are  not  encouraged  to  go  into  the 
laboratory  unless  they  have  a  pretty  serious  interest  in  the 
subject.  For  a  student  who  has  it  in  him  to  become  some- 
what of  an  "  insider  "  in  psychology,  no  course  is  the  equal 
of  the  laboratory  course,  supplemented  by  judicious  read- 
ings in  the  original  sources  or  in  advanced  treatises.  Next 
in  frequency  to  the  experimental  course  stands  that  in  ap- 
plied psychology,  since  the  recent  applications  of  psy- 
chology to  business,  industry,  vocational  guidance,  law, 
and  medicine  appeal  to  a  considerable  number  of  college 
students.  Other  courses  which  appear  not  infrequently  in 
college  curricula  are  those  in  social,  abnormal,  and  animal 
psychology.  No  precise  order  is  necessary  in  the  taking 
of  these  courses,  and  it  is  not  customary  to  make  any  be- 
yond the  introductory  course  prerequisite  for  the  others. 

Robert  S.  Woodworth 

Columbia   University 


Length  of 
the  intro- 
ductoxy 
course 


Content  of 
advanced 
courses  in 
psychology 


346  College  Teaching 


Bibliography 

Many  of  the  textbooks  contain,  in  their  prefaces,  important  sug- 
gestions toward  the  teaching  of  the  subject.  There  are  also  fre- 
quent articles  in  the  psychological  journals  on  apparatus  for 
demonstrations   and  class  or   laboratory   experiments. 

1.  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  American  Psychological  Associa- 

tion on  the  Teaching  of  Psychology.  Psychological  Monographs, 
No.  51,  1910. 

2.  American  Psychological  Association,  Report  of  the  Committee  on 

the  Academic  Status  of  Psychology,  1915:  "The  Academic 
Status  of  Psychology  in  the  Normal  Schools." 

3.  Same  Committee,   1916:     "A   Survey   of   Psychological   Investiga- 

tions with  Reference  to  Differentiations  between  Psychological 
Experiments  and  Mental  Tests."  Concerned  with  the  availability 
of  mental  tests  as  material  for  the  experimental  course. 

4.  Courses   in   Psychology   for   the   Students'   Army  Training  Corps. 

Psychological  Bulletin,  1918,  15,  129-136.  See  also  the  Outlines 
of  parts  of  the  course  in  the  same  journal,  pages  137-167, 
177-206;  and  a  note  on  the  success  of  the  courses  by  Edgar  S. 
Brightman,  in  the  Bulletin  for  1919,  pages  24-26. 


XVII 

THE  TEACHING  OF  EDUCATION 

A.  Teaching  the  History  of  Education  in 
College 


THERE  are  three  main  kinds  of  educational  value;  viz., 
practical,  cultural,  and  disciplinary.  These  three 
types  of  educational  value  probably  originated  in  the  order 
in  which  they  are  here  mentioned.  In  early  educational 
periods,  all  values  are  practical,  or  utilitarian.  With  the 
growth  of  social  classes,  some  values  become  cultural;  viz., 
those  pursued  by  the  upper  classes.  The  disciplinary  values 
are  recognized  when  studies  cease  to  have  the  practical 
and  cultural  values. 

By  the  "educational  value"  of  a  subject  we  mean,  of 
course,  the  service  which  the  pursuit  of  that  subject  ren- 
ders. Any  one  subject  will  naturally  have  all  three  values, 
but  no  two  subjects  will  have  the  same  values  mixed  in  the 
same  proportion.  The  practical  value  of  a  subject  depends 
on  the  use  in  life  to  which  it  can  be  put,  especially  its  use 
in  making  a  living.  The  cultural  value  of  a  subject  depends 
largely  on  the  enjoyment  it  contributes  to  life.  While  cul- 
ture does  not  make  a  living,  it  makes  it  worth  while  that 
a  living  should  be  made.  The  disciplinary  value  of  a 
subject  depends  on  the  amount  of  mental  training  that 
subject  affords.  Such  mental  training  is  available  in  fur- 
ther pursuit  of  the  same,  or  a  similar,  subject.  It  is  the 
fashion  of  educational  thinking  in  our  day  to  put  greatest 
stress  on  the  practical  values,  less  on  the  cultural,  and  least 
on  the  disciplinary.  There  is  no  denying  the  reality  of 
each  type  of  value. 

Now,  what  is  the  value  of  the  history  of  education? 
There  are  no  experimental  studies  as  yet,  nor  scientific 
measurements,  upon  which  to  base  an  answer.  The  poor 
best  we  can  do  is  to  express  an  opinion.     This  opinion  is 

347 


Kinds  of 

educational 

values 


Meaning  of 
educational 
values 


Value  of  the 
blstory  of 
education 


348 


College  Teaching 


Its  cultural 
value 


Its  prac- 
tical value 


based  on  the  views  of  others  and  on  the  writer's  experience 
in  teaching  the  history  of  education  ten  years  in  a  liberal 
college  (Dartmouth)  and  ten  years  in  a  professional  gradu- 
ate school  (New  York  University).  On  this  basis  I  should 
say  that  the  aim  of  the  history  of  education,  at  least  as 
recorded  in  existing  texts,  is  first  cultural,  then  practical, 
and  last  disciplinary.  Texts  yet  to  be  written  for  the  use 
of  teachers  in  training  may  shift  the  places  of  the  cultural 
and  the  practical.  This  new  type  of  text  will  give  the 
history,  not  of  educational  epochs  in  chronological  suc- 
cession, but  of  modern  educational  problems  in  their  origin 
and  development.^ 

As  cultural,  the  history  of  education  is  the  record  of  the 
efforts  of  society  to  project  its  own  ideals  into  the  future 
through  shaping  the  young  and  plastic  generation.  There 
comes  into  this  purview  the  successive  social  organizations, 
their  ideals,  and  the  methods  utilized  in  embodying  these 
ideals  in  young  lives.  Interpretations  of  the  nature  of  social 
progress,  the  contribution  of  education  to  such  progress, 
and  the  goal  of  human  progress,  naturally  arise  for  dis- 
cussion, and  the  history  of  education  well  taught  as  the 
effort  of  man  to  improve  himself  is  both  informing  and  in- 
spiring. This  is  the  cultural  value  of  the  history  of  edu- 
cation. The  sense  of  the  meaning  and  value  of  human  life 
is  enhanced.  As  President  Faunce  says,^  "  A  college  of 
arts  and  sciences  which  has  no  place  for  the  study  of  student 
life  past  and  present,  no  serious  consideration  of  the  great 
schools  which  have  largely  created  civilization,  is  a  curi- 
ously one-sided  and  illiberal  institution." 

As  practical,  the  history  of  education,  even  when  taught 

^  "  A  New  Method  in  the  History  of  Education,"  School  Review  Mon- 
ographs, No.  3.     H.  H.  Home. 
-  Quoted   in   School   and   Society,   Vol.   5,   page   23,   from    President 
Faunce's  annual  report.     Recent  articles  on  the  cultural  value  of 
courses  in  education  are: 

J.  M.  Mecklin.  "The  Problem  of  the  Training  of  the  Secondary 
Teacher,"  School  and  Society,  Vol.  4.  pages  64-67. 

H.  E.  Townsend,  "  The  Cultural  Value  of  Courses  in  Education," 
School  and  Society,  Vol.  4,  pages  175-176. 


The  Teaching  of  Education  349 

from  the  customary  general  texts,  throws  some  light  on  such 
everyday  school  matters  as  educational  organization,  the  best 
methods  of  teaching,  the  right  principles  of  education  for 
women,  how  to  manage  classes,  and  the  art  of  administering 
education.  History  cannot  give  the  final  answer  to  such 
questions,  but  it  makes  a  contribution  to  the  final  an- 
swer in  reporting  the  results  of  racial  experience  and  in 
assisting  students  to  understand  present  problems  in  the 
light  of  their  past.  The  history  of  education  has  a  prac- 
tical value,  but  it  is  not  alone  the  source  of  guidance. 

As  disciplinary,  the  history  of  education  shows  the  value  its  disci- 
of  all  historical  study.  The  appeal  is  mainly  to  the  mem-  vaiu^ 
ory  and  the  judgment.  The  teaching  is  inadequate,  if  the 
appeal  is  only  to  the  memory.  The  judgment  must  also 
be  requisitioned  in  comparing,  estimating,  generalizing,  and 
applying.  Memory  is  indispensable  in  retaining  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  historical  facts,  and  judgment  is  utilized  in 
seeing  the  meaning  of  these  facts.  With  all  studies  in 
general,  history  shares  in  training  perceptive,  associative, 
and  effortful  activities.  Training  in  history  is  commonly 
supposed  also  to  make  one  conservative,  in  contrast  with 
training  in  science,  which  is  supposed  to  make  one  progres- 
sive. But  this  result  is  not  necessary,  being  dependent  upon 
one's  attitude  toward  the  past.  If  past  events  are  viewed  * 
as  a  lapse  from  an  ideal,  the  study  of  history  makes  one 
conservative  and  skeptical  about  progress.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  past  is  viewed  as  progress  toward  an  ideal,  the 
study  of  history  makes  one  progressive,  and  expectant  of 
the  best  that  is  yet  to  be.  But,  even  so,  familiarity  with  the  S 
past  breeds  criticism  of  quick  expedients  whereby  humanity 
is  at  last  to  arrive.  On  the  whole,  the  disciplinary  value 
of  the  history  of  education  is  attained  as  an  incident  of 
its  cultural  and  practical  values.  We  are  no  longer  trying 
to  discipline  the  mind  by  memorizing  lists  of  names  and 
dates,  though  they  be  such  euphonious  names  as  those  of 
the  native  American  Indian  tribes,  but  we  are  striving  to 
understand  man's  past  and  present  efforts  at  conscious 
self -improvement. 


350 


College  Teaching 


The    various 
aims  of 
students 


A  student's 
reaction 


College  students  will  elect  a  course  in  the  history  of  edu- 
cation with  many  different  motives.  They  may  like  the 
teacher,  they  may  like  history  in  any  form,  they  may  like 
the  hours  at  which  the  class  is  scheduled,  some  person  who 
had  the  course  recommended  it,  or  they  have  an  idea  they 
may  teach  for  a  while  after  graduating.  A  few  know  they 
are  going  into  teaching  as  a  vocation  in  life,  and  appre- 
ciate in  a  measure  the  increasing  exactitudes  of  professional 
training.  Thus,  from  the  student  standpoint,  the  aims  are 
eclectic.  The  results  with  them  will  be  that  as  human  be- 
ings they  have  a  wider  view  of  life;  as  citizens,  perhaps  as 
members  of  school  boards,  they  are  more  intelligent  in 
school  matters;  and  as  teachers  they  make  a  start  in  their 
progressive  equipment.  The  general  course  in  the  history  of 
education  is  pursued  by  a  group  of  students  with  varying 
but  undifferentiated  motives. 

Once  I  asked  a  group  of  college  students  to  write  a 
frank  reaction  on  a  sixty-hour  course  they  had  just  com- 
pleted in  the  general  history  of  education.  One  wrote  as 
follows:  "The  history  of  education  makes  me  feel  that  a 
number  of  what  we  call  innovations  today  are  a  renaissance 
of  something  as  '  old  as  the  hills.'  We  hear  a  lot  about 
pupil  self-government,  and  we  find  it  back  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  trade  school  also  is  not  a  modern 
tendency. 

"  I  also  feel  that  maybe  we  are  not  giving  our  boys  and 
girls  a  liberal  education;  maybe  we  are  too  utilitarian  (I 
was  very  much  inclined  that  way  myself  before  I  took  this 
course). 

"  That  when  we  wish  to  try  something  new,  let's  go  back 
and  see  if  it  has  not  been  tried  before,  study  the  circum- 
stances, the  mistakes  made,  the  results  attained,  and  see 
whether  we  can't  profit  by  the  experience  given  us  by  the 
past. 

"  I  was  also  very  much  surprised  to  learn  the  close  con- 
nection that  there  is  between  civilization  and  education. 

"  I  feel  that  we  are  laying  too  much  stress  on  the  think- 
ing side  of  training  rather  than  on  the  volitional  side:  not 


The  Teaching  of  Education  351 

doing  in  the  sense  of  utility  alone,  but  as  a  means  of  expres- 
sion." 

It  is  easy  to  see  the  parts  of  the  course  that  particularly 
gripped  him.     Another  wrote  as  follows: 

"  The  history  of  education  makes  me  feel  as  follows  about   Another  re- 
,  .  '  action 

teachmg : 

(1)  It  shows  the  knowledge  of  method  to  be  obtained 
from  the  experiences  of  others. 

(2)  It  makes  me  feel  the  importance  of  the  teacher. 

(3)  It  shows  a  great  field  and  encourages  us  to  try  to 
improve  our  own  methods. 

(4)  It  shows  us  the  great  responsibility  of  the  profession 
in  connection  with  the  nation,  for  the  school  teacher  to  a 
marked  degree  determines  the  destiny  of  a  nation. 

(5)  It  shows  the  importance  of  free-thinking.  (Illustra- 
tion omitted.) 

(6)  It  shows  us  the  great  importance  of  individuality 
along  the  line  of  teaching,  for,  as  soon  as  we  begin  to 
adopt  the  methods  of  others  exactly  without  examining 
them  carefully,  progress  stops,  and  we  are  like  the  teachers 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

(7)  It  shows  that  every  teacher  should  have  a  heartfelt 
interest  in  his  pupil. 

(8)  It  makes  us  feel  that  discipline  is  unnecessary,  if 
we  utilize  the  right  methods. 

(9)  It  tells  us  and  makes  us  feel  above  everything  else 
that  a  good  education  is  worth  as  much  as  riches  and  that, 
since  we  are  all  brothers,  we  ought  to  try  to  teach  every- 
body." 

An  analysis  of  these  two  answers  would  show  a  combina- 
tion of  the  cultural  and  practical  values  and,  by  implica- 
tion at  least,  since  they  were  able  to  say  these  things,  a 
disciplinary  value. 

Should  the  history  of  education  be  a  required  or  an  elec-   History  of 

OQIlCfttlOU 

tive   course   in   the  college   curriculum?     In   a   school   of   should  bo 
education  offering  a   bachelor's  degree,  it  might  well  be  anoioctiTe 
required,  for  both  cultural  and  professional  reasons,  but 
in  the  usual  department  of  education  in  a  college  it  will 


352 


College  Teaching 


A  forty-flve- 
bour  course 


First  term 
senior  year 


be  oflfered  as  an  •  elective  course.  Its  cultural  and  dis- 
ciplinary values  are  not  such  as  to  make  its  pursuit  a  re- 
quisite for  a  liberal  education,  and  its  practical  value  for 
prospective  teachers,  as  it  has  been  commonly  taught,  is 
not  such  as  to  warrant  its  prescription.  Besides,  the  pros- 
pective teacher  is  animated  by  the  vocational  motive  and 
will  elect  the  history  of  education  anyway,  unless  there 
are  more  practical  courses  to  be  had.  Students  in  all  the 
college  courses  should  have  the  privilege  of  electing  the 
history  of  education  in  view  of  their  future  citizenship. 

A  three-hour-per-week  elective  course  for  a  half  year, 
about  forty-five  classroom  hours,  will  meet  the  needs  of  the 
average  undergraduate  in  this  subject.  This  amount  of 
time  is  adequate  for  a  bird's  eye  view  of  the  general  field, 
affording  a  unit  of  accomplishment  in  itself  preparing  the 
way  for  more  specialized  study  later,  though  it  is  only  about 
half  the  time  requisite  for  presenting  the  details  of  the 
subject. 

In  my  judgment  the  study  of  the  history  of  education 
would  best  fall  between  principles  and  methods.  The  study 
of  the  principles  of  education  should  come  first,  as  it  is 
closely  related  to  preceding  work  in  the  natural  and  mental 
sciences,  especially  biology,  physiology,  sociology,  and  psy- 
chology; it  also  gives  a  point  of  view  from  which  to  continue 
the  study  of  education,  some  standard  of  judgment.  The 
study  of  educational  methods,  such  as  general  method  in 
teaching,  special  method  for  different  subjects,  the  tech- 
nique of  instruction,  class  management,  organization  and 
administration  of  schools,  should  come  last  in  the  course, 
because  it  will  be  soonest  used.  These  practical  matters 
should  be  fresh  in  the  mind  of  any  young  college  gradu- 
ate beginning  to  teach.  The  history  of  education  is  a 
good  transition  in  study  from  the  theory  of  the  first  princi- 
ples to  the  practice  of  school  matters,  affording  a  panorama 
of  facts  to  be  judged  by  principles  and  racial  experiments 
in  educational  practice.  This  means  that  the  choice  time 
for  the  course  in  the  history  of  education  is  the  first  semes- 
ter of  the  senior  year  in  college.     There  is  something  to 


The  Teaching  of  Education  353 

be  said  for  making  this  course  the  introductory  one  in  the 
study  of  education,  connecting  with  preceding  courses  in 
history  and  being  objective  in  character.  There  is  also 
something  to  be  said  for  giving  only  a  practical  course 
dealing  with  the  history  of  educational  problems  to  college 
undergraduates  and  reserving  the  general  history  of  edu- 
cation as  a  complex  social  study  for  the  graduate  school. 
There  is  no  unanimity  of  opinion  or  practice  concerning 
the  history  of  education.^ 

What  should  be  the  content  of  the  one-semester  general  Texts  and 
course?  Three  modern  available  texts  are  Monroe,  A  Brief 
Course  in  the  History  of  Education  (The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany) ;  Graves,  A  Student's  History  of  Education  (The  Mac- 
millan Company) ;  and  Duggan,  A  Student's  Textbook  in 
the  History  of  Education  (D.  Appleton  &  Co.).  Of  these 
Monroe's  book  is  the  first  (1907),  and  it  has  greatly  in- 
fluenced every  later  text  in  the  field.  There  is  a  general 
agreement  in  these  three  texts  as  to  the  content  of  such  a 
course;  viz.,  a  general  survey  of  education  in  the  successive 
periods  of  history,  including  primitive,  oriental,  Greek, 
Roman,  Early  Christian  and  medieval,  renaissance,  reforma- 
tion, realism,  Locke  and  the  disciplinary  tendency,  Rous- 
seau, the  psychologists,  and  the  scientific,  sociological,  and 
eclectic  tendencies.  All  are  written  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  conflict  between  the  interests  of  society  and  the  in- 
dividual. The  pages  of  the  three  books  number  respec- 
tively 409,  433,  and  397.  Graves  pays  most  attention  to 
the  development  of  American  education.  Duggan  omits 
the  treatment  of  primitive  and  oriental  education  (except 
Jewish ) ,  "  which  did  not  contribute  directly  to  Western 
culture  and  education."  All  are  illustrated.  All  have 
good  summaries,  which  Graves  and  Duggan,  following 
S.  C.  Parker,  who  derived  the  suggestion  from  Herbart, 
place  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter.  All  have  biblio- 
graphical references,  and  Duggan  adds  lists  of  questions 
also.     Perhaps   in   order   of   ease   for   students   the   books 

1  Cf.  Thomas  M.  Balliet.  *'  Normal  School  Curricula,"  School  and  So- 
ciety, Vol.  IV,  page  340. 


Edncational 
classics 


354  College  Teaching 

would  be  Duggan,  Graves,  and  Monroe,  though  teachers 
would  not  all  agree  in  this.  Users  of  Monroe  have  a  valu- 
able aid  in  his  epoch-making  Textbook  in  the  History  of 
Education  (The  Macmillan  Company),  772  pages,  1905, 
and  users  of  Graves  likewise  have  his  three  volumes  as 
supplementary  material  (The  Macmillan  Company). 

The  same  general  ground  is  covered  by  P.  J.  McCormick, 
History  of  Education  (The  Catholic  Educational  Press), 
1915,  401  pages,  with  especial  attention  given  to  the  Middle 
Ages  and  .the  religious  organizations  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  This  work  contains  references  and  summaries 
also. 

Duggan  is  right  in  omitting  the  treatment  of  primitive 
and  oriental  education  on  the  principle  of  strict  historical 
continuity,  but  for  purposes  of  comparison  the  chapters 
on  primitive  and  oriental  education  in  the  other  texts  serve 
a  useful  purpose. 

A  more  intensive  elective  course  in  the  history  of  edu- 
cation intended  especially  for  those  expecting  to  teach 
might  well  be  offered  in  a  college  with  sufficient  instruc- 
tors. These  courses  might  be  in  educational  classics,  the 
history  of  modern  elementary  education,  or  the  history 
of  the  high  school.  Texts  are  now  available  in  these 
fields.  Monroe's  Source  Book  for  the  History  of  Educa- 
tion (The  Macmillan  Company),  1901,  is  a  most  useful 
book  in  studying  the  ancient  educational  classics,  in  which, 
however,  the  Anacharsis  of  Lucian  does  not  appear,  though 
it  can  be  found  in  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  1897-1898,  Vol.  I,  pages  571-589. 
The  renaissance  classics  may  be  studied  in  the  works  of 
Woodward  and  Laurie.  The  realists  may  be  studied  in  the 
various  editions  of  Comenius,  Locke,  Spencer,  and  Hux- 
ley. Likewise  the  modern  naturalistic  movement  may  be 
followed  in  the  writings  of  Rousseau,  Pestalozzi,  Herbart, 
and  Froebel.  These  four  courses  are  available  in  edu- 
cational classics:  the  ancient,  the  renaissance  or  humanistic, 
the  realistic  and  the  naturalistic. 

The  History  of  Modern  Elementary  Education  (Ginn  and 


The  Teaching  of  Education 


355 


Co.)  by  S.  C.  Parker  and  The  High  School  (The  Macmillan 
Company)  by  F.  W.  Smith  may  be  profitably  used  as  texts 
in  the  courses  on  these  topics.  Parker's  has  but  little  on 
the  organization  of  the  elementary  school,  is  weak  on  the 
philosophical  side  of  the  theorists  treated,  has  nothing  on 
Montessori,  draws  no  lessons  from  history,  is  very  brief 
on  the  present  tendencies,  and  is  somewhat  heavy,  prosaic, 
and  unimaginative  in  style;  but  it  is  painstaking,  covers 
all  the  main  points  well  and  has  uncovered  some  valuable 
new  material,  and  on  the  whole  is  the  best  history  in 
English  on  its  problem.  Dr.  Smith's  book  is  really  a  his- 
tory of  education  written  around  the  origin  and  tendencies 
of  the  high  school  as  central.  It  is  a  scholarly  work, 
based  on  access  to  original  Latin  and  other  sources,  though 
diffuse. 

An  elective  course  in  the  history  of  American  education 
is  highly  desirable.  Chancellor  E.  E.  Brown's  scholarly 
book  on  The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools,  or  E.  G. 
Dexter's  encyclopedic  book  on  History  of  Education  in  the 
United  States,  may  profitably  serve  as  texts.  This  course 
should  show  the  European  influences  on  American  schools, 
the  development  of  the  American  system,  and  the  role  of 
education  in  a  democratic  society.  There  is  great  oppor- 
tunity for  research  in  this  field. 

There  is  room  for  yet  another  course  for  college  under- 
graduates expecting  to  teach, —  a  history  of  educational 
problems.  The  idea  is  to  trace  the  intimate  history  of  a 
dozen  or  more  of  the  present  most  urgent  educational 
questions,  with  a  view  to  understanding  them  better  and 
solving  them  more  wisely,  thus  enabling  the  study  of  the 
history  of  education  to  function  more  in  the  practice  of 
teachers.  Such  a  text  has  not  yet  been  written.  The  point 
of  view  is  expressed  by  Professor  Joseph  K.  Hart  as  fol- 
lows: "The  large  problem  of  education  is  the  making  of 
new  educational  history.  The  real  reason  for  studying  the 
history  of  education  is  that  one  may  learn  how  to  become 
a  maker  of  history.  For  this  purpose,  history  must  awaken 
the  mind  of  the  student  to  the  problems,  forces,  and  condi- 


Hlstory  of 
elementary 
and  high 
schools 


American 
education 


History  of 

educational 

problems 


356  College  Teaching 

tions  of  the  present;  and  its  outlook  must  be  toward  the 
future."  1 
tJaSta^"'  What  should  be  the  method  of  teaching  the  history  of 

education  in  college?  One  of  the  texts  will  be  used  as  a 
basis  for  assignments  and  study.  Not  less  than  two  hours 
of  preparation  on  each  assignment  will  be  expected.  The 
general  account  in  the  text  will  be  supplemented  by  the 
reading  of  source  and  parallel  material,  concerning  which 
very  definite  directions  will  have  to  be  given  by  the  teacher. 
Each  student  will  keep  a  notebook  as  one  of  the  require- 
ments of  the  course,  which  is  examined  by  the  instructor  at 
the  end.  A  profitable  way  to  make  a  notebook  is  for  each 
student  to  select  a  different  modern  problem  and  trace  its 
origin  and  growth  as  he  goes  through  the  general  history  of 
education  and  its  source  material.  In  this  way  each  student 
becomes  a  crude  historian  of  a  problem.  The  examination 
will  test  judgment  and  reason  as  well  as  memory.  In  the 
classroom  the  instructor  will  at  times  question  the  class, 
will  at  times  be  questioned  by  the  class,  will  lecture  on 
supplementary  material,  will  use  some  half-dozen  stereop- 
ticon  lectures  in  close  conjunction  with  the  text,  will  have 
debates  between  chosen  students,  seeking  variety  in  method 
without  loss  of  unity  in  result.  Some  questions  for  debate 
might  be,  the  superiority  of  the  Athenian  to  the  modern 
school  product,  the  necessity  of  Latin  and  Greek  for  a 
liberal  education,  religious  instruction  in  the  public  schools, 
formal  discipline,  whether  the  aim  of  education  is  cultural 
or  vocational,  whether  private  philanthropy  is  a  benefit  to 
public  education,  etc.  It  is  very  important  in  teaching  so 
remote  a  subject  as  the  history  of  education  that  the  teacher 
have  imagination,  be  constantly  pointing  modern  parallels, 
communicate  the  sense  that  the  past  has  made  a  difference 
in  the  present,  and  be  himself  kindled  and  quickened  by 
man's  aspirations  for  self-improvement.  Unless  our  sub- 
ject first  inspires  us,  it  cannot  inspire  our  pupils.  Who- 
ever teaches  the  history   of  education  because  he  has  to 

1 "  Can  a  College  Department  of  Education  Become  Scientific?  "     The 
Scientific  Monthly,  Vol.  3,  No.  4,  page  381. 


results 


The  Teaching  of  Education  357 

instead   of  because  he  wants   to   must  expect  thin  results. 

In  addition  to  the  formal  indication  of  the  results  of  the  Testing 
course  in  the  examination  paper,  teachers  can  test  their 
results  by  asking  for  frank  unsigned  statements  as  to  what 
the  course  has  meant  to  each  student,  by  securing  suggestions 
from  the  class  for  the  future  conduct  of  the  course,  by  noting 
whether  education  as  a  means  of  social  evolution  has  been 
appreciated,  by  observing  whether  the  attitude  of  individual 
students  toward  education  as  a  life-work  or  as  a  human  en- 
terprise deserving  adequate  support  from  all  intelligent 
citizens  has  developed.  As  future  citizens,  has  the  motive 
to  improve  schools  been  awakened?  Particularly  do 
more  men  want  to  teach,  despite  small  pay  and  slight 
male  companionship?  The  history  of  education  does  not 
really  grip  the  class  until  its  members  want  to  rise  up  and 
do  something  by  educational  means  to  help  set  the  world 
right. 

The  limits  of  this  paper  exclude  the  treatment  of  the 
subject  in  the  professional  training  of  teachers  in  normal 
schools,  high  schools,  and  graduate  schools,  as  well  as  in 
extension  courses  for  teachers  or  in  their  private  reading. 

Herman  H.  Horne 

New  York  University 

Bibliography 

BuissoN,  F.    Dictionnaire  de  la  Pedagogie,  Histoire  de  I'Education. 
Burn  HAM,  W.  H.     Education  as  a  University  Subject.    Educational 

Review,  Vol.  26,  pages  236-245. 
BuRNHAM  and  Suzzalo,  The  History  of  Education  as  a  Professional 

Subject.    Teachers  College,  New  York,  1908. 
Cook,  H.  M.     History  of  the  History  of  Education  as  a  Professional 

Study  in  the  United  States.     Unpublished  thesis. 
Hinsdale,  B.  A.    The  Study  of  Education  in  American  Colleges  and 

Universities.    Educational  Revietv,  Vol.  19,  pages  105-120. 
Horne,  H.   H.     A   New   Method  in   the  History  of   Education.     The 

School  Review  Monographs,  No.  3,  Ch-icago,  1913;   pages  31-35. 

Discussion  of  same  in  School  Review,  May,  1913. 
KiEHLE,    D.   L.     The    History   of    Education:    What    It    Stands    For. 

School  Review,  Vol.  9,  pages  310-315. 
Monroe,  P.,  and  Others.     History  of  Education;  in  Monroe's  Cyclo- 
pedia of  Education,  Vol.  3,  New  York,  1912. 


858  College  Teaching 

Monroe,  P.  Opportunity  and  Need  for  Research  Work  in  the  His- 
tory of  Education.     Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  17,  pages  54-62. 

Moore,  E.  C.  The  History  of  Education.  School  Review,  Vol.  XI, 
pages  350-360. 

Norton,  A.  0.  Scope  and  Aims  of  the  History  of  Education.  Edu- 
cational Review,  Vol.  27. 

Payne,  W.  H.  Practical  Value  of  the  History  of  Education.  Pro- 
ceedings National  Education  Association,  1889.  pages  218-223. 

Rein,  W.  Encyclopadisches  Handbuch  der  Padagogik.  Historische 
Pddagogik. 

RoBBiNS,  C.  L.  History  of  Education  in  State  Normal  Schools.  Ped- 
agogical Seminary,  Vol.  22,  No.  3,  pages  377-390. 

Ross,  D.  Education  as  a  University  Subject:  Its  History,  Present 
Position,  and  Prospects.     Glasgow,  1883. 

Sutton,  W.  L.,  and  Bolton,  F.  E.  The  Relation  of  the  Department 
of  Education  to  other  Departments  in  Colleges  and  Universities. 
Journal  of  Pedagogy,  Vol.  19,  Nos.  2-3. 

Williams,  S.  G.  Value  of  the  History  of  Education  to  Teachers. 
Proceedings  National  Education  Association,  1889,  pages  223-231. 

Wilson,  G.  M.  Titles  of  College  Courses  in  Education.  Educational 
Monographs,  No.  8,  1919,  pages  12-30. 


The  Teaching  of  Education  359 

B.  Teaching  Educational  Theory  in  College 
AND  University  Departments  of  Education 

COURSES  in  education  in  a  college  or  university  de-  int'odic- 
partment  may  be  roughly  classified  into  (a)  the  theo- 
retical phases  of  education,  (6)  the  historical  phases,  and 
(c)  the  applied  phases.  Under  the  historical  phases  may 
properly  be  included  courses  in  the  general  history  of 
education  as  well  as  those  in  the  history  of  education  in 
special  countries.  The  applied  courses  may  include  gen- 
eral and  special  method,  organization,  administration,  ob- 
servation, and  practice.  Educational  theory  is  discussed 
below. 

A  couple  of  decades  ago  the  terms  "  philosophy  of  edu- 
cation," "  science  of  education,"  and  "  general  pedagogy," 
or  just  "  pedagogy,"  were  most  generally  employed.  At 
that  time  most  of  the  work  in  education  was  given  in 
the  departments  of  philosophy  or  psychology.  Gradually 
departments  of  education  came  to  have  an  independent 
status.  Among  the  earliest  were  those  at  Michigan,  under 
Dr.  Joseph  Payne,  and  the  one  at  Iowa,  under  Dr.  Stephen 
Fellows.  Previous  to  the  vigorous  development  of  depart- 
ments of  education,  the  departments  of  psychology  and 
philosophy  gave  no  special  attention  to  the  educational 
bearings  of  psychology.  But  as  soon  as  departments  of 
education  began  to  introduce  courses  in  educational  psy- 
chology and  child  study,  the  occupants  of  the  departments 
of  psychology  rubbed  their  eyes,  became  aware  of  unutil- 
ized opportunities,  and  then  began  to  assert  claims. 

Ordinarily  the  courses  in  educational  theory  are  given  in    ^!""°'    . 
the  junior  year  of  college.     In  a  few  places,  elementary  or   theory  in 
introductory   courses   are  open   to   freshmen.     There   is   a   rtroiMi 
distinct  advantage  in  giving  courses  to  freshmen,  if  they  can 
be  made  sufficiently  concrete  and  grow  out  of  their  pre- 
vious experiences.     The  college  of  education  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Washington,   for  example,  is  so  organized  that 
the  student  shall  begin  to  think  of  the  profession  of  teach- 


360  College  Teaching 

ing  immediately  upon  entering  the  University.  While  the 
main  work  in  education  courses  does  not  come  until  the 
junior  and  senior  years,  the  student  receives  guidance  and 
counsel  from  the  outset  in  selecting  his  courses  and  is  helped 
to  get  in  touch  with  the  professional  atmosphere  that  should 
surround  a  teacher's  college.  The  foundation  work  in  zo- 
ology and  psychology  is  given  as  far  as  possible  with  the 
teaching  profession  in  mind.  It  is  planned  to  give  some 
work  of  a  general  nature  in  education  during  the  first  two 
years,  that  will  serve  as  vocational  guidance  and  will  assist 
the  student  to  arrange  his  work  most  advantageously  and  to 
accomplish  it  most  economically.  By  the  more  prolonged 
individual  acquaintance  between  students  and  faculty  of  the 
college  of  education,  it  is  hoped  that  the  students  will  receive 
greater  professional  help  and  the  faculty  will  be  better 
able  to  judge  of  the  teaching  abilities  of  the  students.  The 
work  in  education  and  allied  courses  has  been  so  extended 
that  adequate  professional  preparation  may  be  secured. 
The  courses  in  zoology,  psychology,  and  sociology  are  all 
directly  contributory  to  a  knowledge  of,  and  to  an  inter- 
pretation of,  the  courses  in  education. 

The  great  majority  of  undergraduate  students  taking  edu- 
cation are  preparing  to  teach,  and  more  and  more  they  plan 
to  teach  in  the  high  schools.  However,  not  a  few  students 
of  medicine,  law,  engineering,  and  other  technical  subjects 
take  courses  in  education  as  a  means  of  general  information. 
It  would  be  exceedingly  desirable  if  all  citizens  would 
take  general  courses  in  education,  and  would  come  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  educational  processes  and  past 
and  present  practices  in  educational  procedure.  If  all 
parents  and  members  of  school  boards  could  have  a  few 
modern  courses  in  educational  theory  and  organization, 
the  work  of  school  teachers  would  be  very  much  simpli- 
fied. 

So  far  as  is  known,  no  college  or  university  makes  edu- 
cation an  absolute  requirement  such  as  is  made  with  respect 
to  foreign  languages,  science,  mathematics,  or  philosophy. 
In  a  large  majority  of  states,  some  work  in  education  is  re- 


The  Teaching  of  Education  361 

quired  for  teacher's  certification.  The  number  of  states 
making  such  requirements  is  rapidly  increasing.  Before 
long  it  will  be  impossible  for  persons  to  engage  in  teach- 
ing without  either  attending  a  normal  school  or  taking  pro- 
fessional courses  in  education  in  college. 

The  theory  of  education  as  considered  in  this  chapter  will   The  scope 
include  all  those  courses  which  have  for  their  purpose  the   courses*in 
consideration  of  the  fundamental  meaning  of  education  and    educational 
the  underlying  laws  or  principles  governing  the  education       """^ 
process.     Educational  theory  is  given  in  different  institu- 
tions under  a  great  variety  of  titles.     The  following  are  the 
most  frequently  offered:     Principles  of  education,  philoso- 
phy of  education,  theory  of  education,  educational  psychol- 
ogy, genetic  psychology,  experimental  education,  child  study, 
adolescence,  moral  education,  educational  sociology,  social 
aspects  of  education.     Educational  theory  may  be  divided 
into  courses  which  are  elementary  in  character,  and  those 
which  are  advanced.     The  purpose  of  the  former  is  to  pre- 
sent to  beginning  students  the  fundamentals  of  reasonably 
well-tested   principles  and   laws,   and  to   indicate  to  them 
something  of  the  various  phases  of  education. 

The  purpose  of  advanced  courses,  especially  in  experi- 
mental education,  is  to  reach  out  into  new  fields  and  by 
study  and  experiment  to  test  and  develop  new  theories. 
The  experimental  phases  of  education  seek  to  blaze  new 
trails  and  to  discover  new  methods  of  reaching  more  eco- 
nomically and  efficiently  the  goals  which  education  seeks. 
Both  of  these  phases  should  be  given  in  a  college  course 
in  the  theory  of  education.  Enough  of  the  experimental 
work  should  be  given  in  the  elementary  course  to  enable 
students  to  distinguish  between  mere  opinion  and  well- 
established  theory,  to  understand  how  the  theories  have  been 
derived,  to  know  how  to  subject  them  to  crucial  tests,  and 
to  give  them  some  knowledge  of  methods  of  "experimenta- 
tion. 

Education  as  a  science  is  constantly  confronted  by  the 
questions,  "What  are  the  ends  and  aims  of  education?" 
and  "  What  are  the  means  of  accomplishing  these  ends?  " 


362  College'  Teaching 

These  mean  that  there  must  be  a  study  of  the  ends  of  edu- 
cation as  necessitated  by  the  demands  of  society  and  the 
needs  of  the  individual  himself.  In  determining  the  ends  of 
education,  adult  society,  of  which  the  individual  is  to  be  a 
part,  must  be  surveyed,  as  must  also  the  social  group  of 
which  the  child  is  now  an  integral  part.  In  addition  to 
these  the  laws  of  growth  and  development  must  be  studied, 
to  understand  what  will  contribute  effectively  to  the  child's 
normal  unfoldment. 

The  interpretation  of  the  ends  and  means  of  education 
will  determine  the  field  of  the  theory  of  education.  This 
interpretation  has  been  so  splendidly  stated  by  Dewey  that 
I  venture  to  quote  him  at  length.  He  says  (My  Pedagogic 
Creed) :  "  I  believe  that  this  educational  process  has  two 
sides  —  one  psychological  and  one  sociological :  and  that 
neither  can  be  subordinated  to  the  other  or  neglected  with- 
out evil  results  following.  Of  these  two  sides,  the  psycho- 
logical is  the  basis.  The  child's  own  instincts  and  powers 
furnish  the  material  and  give  the  starting  point  for  all  edu- 
cation. Save  as  the  efforts  of  the  educator  connect  with 
some  activity  which  the  child  is  carrying  on  of  his  own  in- 
itiative independent  of  the  educator,  education  becomes 
reduced  to  a  pressure  from  without.  It  may,  indeed,  give 
certain  external  results,  but  cannot  truly  be  called  edu- 
cative. Without  insight  into  the  psychological  structure 
and  activities  of  the  individual,  the  educative  processes  will, 
therefore,  be  haphazard  and  arbitrary.  If  it  chances  to 
coincide  with  the  child's  activity,  it  will  get  a  leverage;  if 
it  does  not,  it  will  result  in  friction,  or  disintegration,  or 
arrest  of  the  child  nature. 

"  I  believe  that  knowledge  of  social  conditions,  of  the 
present  state  of  civilization,  is  necessary  in  order  properly 
to  interpret  the  child's  powers.  The  child  has  his  own 
instincts  and  tendencies,  but  we  do  not  know  what  these 
mean  until  we  can  translate  them  into  their  social  equiva- 
lents. We  must  be  able  to  carry  them  back  into  a  social 
past  and  see  them  as  the  inheritance  of  previous  race  ac- 
tivities.    We  must  be  able  to  project  them  into  the  future 


The  Teaching  of  Education  363 

to  see  what  their  outcome  and  end  will  be.  In  the  illustra- 
lion  just  used,  it  is  the  ability  to  see  in  the  child's  babblings 
the  promise  and  potency  of  the  future  social  intercourse  and 
conversation  which  enables  one  to  deal  in  the  proper  way 
with  that  instinct. 

"  1  believe  that  the  psychological  and  social  sides  are 
organically  related,  and  that  education  cannot  be  regarded 
as  a  compromise  between  the  two,  or  a  superimposition 
of  one  upon  the  other.  We  are  told  that  the  psychological 
definition  of  education  is  barren  and  formal  —  that  it  gives 
us  only  the  idea  of  a  development  of  all  the  mental  powers 
without  giving  us  an  idea  of  the  use  to  which  these  powers 
are  put.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  urged  that  the  social 
definition  of  education,  as  getting  adjusted  to  civilization, 
makes  a  forced  and  external  process,  and  results  in  sub- 
ordinating the  freedom  of  the  individual  to  a  preconceived 
social  and  political  status. 

"  I  believe  each  of  these  objections  is  true  when  urged  ' 
against  one  side  isolated  from  the  other.  In  order  to  know 
what  a  power  really  is  we  must  know  what  its  end,  use, 
or  function  is;  and  this  we  cannot  know,  save  as  we  con- 
ceive of  the  individual  as  active  in  social  relationships, 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  only  possible  adjustment  which 
we  can  give  to  the  child  under  existing  conditions  is  that 
which  arises  through  putting  him  in  complete  possession 
of  all  of  his  powers.  With  the  advent  of  democracy  and 
modern  industrial  conditions,  it  is  impossible  to  foretell 
definitely  just  what  civilization  will  be  twenty  years  from 
now.  Hence  it  is  impossible  to  prepare  the  child  for  any 
precise  set  of  conditions.  To  prepare  him  for  the  future 
life  means  to  give  him  command  of  himself;  it  means  so  to 
train  him  that  he  will  have  the  full  and  ready  use  of  all 
his  capacities,  that  his  eye  and  ear  and  hand  may  be  tools 
ready  to  command,  that  his  judgment  may  be  capable  of 
grasping  the  conditions  under  which  it  has  to  work,  and  the 
executive  forces  be  trained  to  act  economically  and  effi- 
ciently. It  is  impossible  to  reach  this  sort  of  adjustment 
save   as   constant   regard   is   had   to   the   individual's   own 


364  College  Teaching 

powers,  tastes,  and  interests;  say,  that  is,  as  education  is 
continually  converted  into  psychological  terms. 

"  In  sum,  I  believe  that  the  individual  who  is  to  be  edu- 
cated is  a  social  individual,  and  that  society  is  an  organic 
union  of  individuals.  If  we  eliminate  the  social  factor 
from  the  child,  we  are  left  only  with  an  abstraction;  if  we 
eliminate  the  individual  factor  from  society,  we  are  left 
ohly  with  an  inert  and  lifeless  mass.  Education,  there- 
fore, must  begin  with  a  psychological  insight  into  the  child's 
capacities,  interests,  and  habits.  It  must  be  controlled  at 
every  point  by  reference  to  these  same  considerations. 
These  powers,  interests,  and  habits  must  be  continually 
interpreted  —  we  must  know  what  they  mean.  They  must 
be  translated  into  terms  of  their  social  equivalents  —  into 
terms  of  what  they  are  capable  of  in  the  way  of  social 
service." 

Therefore,  the  fundamental  course  in  educational  theory 
must  include  (1)  the  biological  principles  of  education, 
(2)  the  psychological  principles  of  education,  and  (3)  the 
social  principles  of  education.  This  does  not  mean  that 
the  sequence  must  be  as  enumerated  here.  In  some  places 
that  is  the  sequence  followed,  in  some  other  places  the 
social  principles  are  studied  first.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  all 
three  phases  must  be  studied  together  to  a  considerable 
extent.  Probably  a  purely  logical  arrangement  would 
place  the  social  phases  first,  but  it  is  almost  futile  to  at- 
tempt to  present  them  effectively  until  something  of  the 
biological  and  psychological  laws  are  first  established. 
Again,  the  student  in  beginning  the  formal  study  of  edu- 
cation is  already  in  possession  of  a  vast  body  of  facts 
concerning  society  and  the  relation  of  education  to  it,  so 
that  reference  can  be  advantageously  made  in  connection 
with  the  study  of  biological  and  psychological  laws  of 
education.  Then  the  social  principles  and  applications  can 
be  more  thoroughly  and  scientifically  considered  in  the 
light  of  the  other  phases. 

In  administering  a  college  course  in  the  theory  of  edu- 
cation the  great  desideratum  is  to  try  to  formulate  a  body 


The  Teaching  of  Education  365 

of  knowledge  which  will  give  the  undergraduate  students 
an  idea  of  the  meaning  of  education  and  its  problems  and 
processes.  In  so  far  as  possible  it  is  desirable  to  present 
material  which  in  a  certain  sense  will  be  practical.  Inas- 
much as  the  majority  of  undergraduates  who  study  educa- 
tion in  a  college  department  intend  to  go  into  the  practical 
work  of  teaching,  it  is  important  to  fortify  them,  as  well  as 
possible  in  the  brief  time  which  they  devote  to  the  subject, 
concerning  the  best  means  of  securing  definite  results  in 
education.  The  majority  are  not  so  much  interested  in  the 
abstract  science  or  the  philosophy  of  education  as  they  are 
in  its  practical  problems.  All  courses  in  education  should 
seek  to  deal  with  fundamental  principles  and  not  dole  out 
dogmatic  statements  of  practical  means  and  devices,  but  at 
the  same  time  no  principles  should  be  considered  with  which 
the  student  cannot  see  some  relation  to  the  educative  proc- 
esses. They  are  not  primarily  concerned  with  the  place  of 
education  among  the  sciences  or  with  ontological  and  teleo- 
logical  meanings  of  education  or  of  its  laws. 

The  course  in  elementary  educational  theory  should  be  Academic 

.,  ....  r      \       '  •       recognition 

on  a  par  with  a  course  m  prmciples  oi  physics,  one  in  of  the  in- 
principles  of  biology,  principles  of  psychology,  principles  troductory 
of  political  science,  etc.  A  course  in  the  principles  of  any 
of  these  subjects  attempts  to  set  forth  the  main  problems 
with  which  the  science  deals.  Elementary  courses  attempt 
to  select  those  principles  which  have  frequent  application 
in  everyday  life.  The  course  in  the  principles  of  physics 
deals  with  the  elementary  notions  of  matter,  motion,  and 
force,  and  everyday  illustrations  and  problems  are  sought. 
It  would  seem  that  in  a  similar  manner  the  college  course 
in  the  foundations  of  education  should  seek  elementary 
principles  which  will  enable  the  student  to  accomplish  the 
purpose  of  education;  namely,  to  produce  modifications  in 
individuals  and  in  society  in  harmony  with  the  ideals  and 
ends  of  education.  Education  is  a  process  of  adjusting  in- 
dividuals to  their  environment,  natural  and  accidental,  and 
the  environment  which  is  created  through  ideals  held  by 
society  and  by  individuals  themselves.     All  education  has 


366  College  Teaching 

to  do  with  the  development  of  the  individual  in  accordance 
with  his  potentialities  and  the  ideals  of  education  which 
are  set  up.  It  is  a  practical  science,  an  applied  science, 
in  the  same  way  that  engineering  is  an  applied  science. 
Engineering  does  not  deal  with  ultimate  theories  of  matter, 
force,  and  motion,  except  as  they  are  important  in  con- 
sidering practical  ends  to  be  secured  through  the  appli- 
.  cation  of  forces.  An  elementary  course  in  educational 
theory  should  seek  to  include  the  foundations  rather  than 
to  encompass  all  knowledge  about  education.  It  is  rather 
an  introduction  than  an  encyclopedia. 

Although  a  complete  and  logical  treatise  on  the  theory 
of  education  might  include  a  consideration  of  the  course  of 
study  and  the  methods  of  instruction,  the  making  of  a  course 
of  study,  the  problem  of  the  arrangement  of  the  course  of 
study,  the  various  studies  as  instruments  of  experience-,  the 
organization  and  administration  of  education,  etc.,  it  is 
questionable  from  a  practical  point  of  view  whether  they 
should  be  given  consideration  in  the  undergraduate  course. 
Mere  passing  notice  would  at  any  rate  seem  sufficient.  Each 
topic  of  the  scope  of  the  foregoing  is  sufficient  to  form  a 
course  in  itself,  and  the  introductory  course  should  do 
no  more  than  define  their  relation  to  the  general  prob- 
lem. In  the  principles  of  psychology  the  fields  of  ab- 
normal psychology,  comparative  psychology,  child  psy- 
chology, adolescent  psychology,  etc.,  are  defined  and  drawn 
upon  for  illustration,  yet  no  separate  chapters  are  devoted 
to  them.  In  departments  of  political  economy  there  are 
usually  elemental  courses  designed  as  an  introduction  to 
the  leading  principles  of  economic  science,  but  there  are 
special  courses  in  currency  and  banking,  public  finance, 
taxation,  transportation,  distribution  of  wealth,  etc. 

Similarly  in  the  college  course  in  the  theory  of  education, 
the  work  should  be  concentrated  upon  fundamentals  de- 
signed to  introduce  the  student  to  the  many  special  prob- 
lems. For  example,  the  course  of  study  and  the  organi- 
zation and  administration  of  education  should  be  regarded 
as  accessory  rather  than  as  fundamental.     The  laws  under- 


The  Teaching  of  Education  367 

lying  processes  of  development  and  modification  are  what 
should  occupy  the  attention  of  the  student  in  this  elemental 
survey.  A  study  of  the  special  means  and  agencies  of  edu- 
cation and  forms  of  social  organization  should  be  given 
in  other  courses  by  special  names.  Secondary  education, 
the  kindergarten,  administration  and  supervision,  methods 
in  special  subjects,  etc.,  each  deserve  attention  as  a  distinct 
and  separate  course. 

As  shown  by  two  surveys  made  by  the  writer,  one  in 
1909  and  the  last  in  1916,  the  theory  of  education  is  most 
frequently  given  under  the  terms  "  Principles  of  Educa- 
tion," "  Educational  Psychology,"  "  Social  Phases  of  Edu- 
cation," "  Educational  Sociology,"  and  "  Child  Study." 
Therefore,  a  brief  special  discussion  of  each  of  these  fields 
may  be  desirable. 

Under  various  names  courses  in  principles  of  education  Principles 
are  given  in  most  departments  of  education.  The  term  xxon 
"  Principles  of  Education  "  does  not  appear  in  all,  being 
replaced  by  "  Principles  of  Teaching,"  "  Philosophy  of 
Education,"  "  Fundamentals  of  Teaching,"  "  Introduction 
to  Education,"  "  Science  of  Education,"  "  Principles  of 
Method,"  "  Theory  of  Education,"  etc.  In  some  institutions 
the  terms  "  Educational  Psychology  "  and  "  Child  Study  " 
stand  for  essentially  the  same  thing  as  the  foregoing.  In 
most  institutions  it  is  recognized  that  the  teacher  must 
understand  (a)  the  meaning  and  aim  of  education,  (6)  the 
nature  of  the  child  considered  biologically,  psychologically, 
socially,  and  morally,  (c)  the  foundations  of  society  and 
the  industries,  id)  how  to  adapt  and  utilize  educational 
means  so  as  to  develop  the  potentialities  of  the  child's 
nature  and  cause  him  to  achieve  the  aims  of  education. 

In  this  section  there  should  be  an  attempt  first  to  enlarge  Biological 
the  notion  of  education,  aiming  to  have  it  regarded  as  "^  c  p  •» 
practically  coincident  with  life  and  experience.  Of  course 
there  is  the  ideal  side  to  which  individuals  will  strive,  but 
the  student  should  be  impressed  with  the  fact  that  every 
experience  leaves  its  ineffaceable  effect  upon  all  organisms. 
In  order  to  convey  this  idea  we  may  begin  with  a  discussion 


368  College  Teaching 

of  the  eflfects  of  experience  upon  simple  animal  and  plant 
life  and  the  general  modifications  produced  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  such  life  to  surroundings.  Some  familiar,  non- 
technical facts  in  the  evolution  of  plant  and  animal  life 
may  be  considered  in  their  relation  to  the  question  of 
adaptation  and  adjustment.  Due  notice  should  be  taken 
of  the  facts  of  adjustment  as  manifested  in  such  illustra- 
tions as  the  change  of  the  eyes  of  cave  animals,  gradual 
modifications  of  plant  and  animal  life,  the  change  of 
animals  from  sea  life  to  land  life,  some  of  the  retrogres- 
sions, etc.  A  general  study  of  the  gradual  evolution  of 
sense  organs  and  the  nervous  system  should  be  made,  be- 
cause these  illustrate  in  an  excellent  way  the  gradual  modi- 
fications produced  by  experience  in  the  race.  After  this 
general  survey,  the  subject  of  innate  tendencies  may  be 
considered  through  the  discussion  of  such  chapters  as  Drum- 
mond's  "  The  ascent  of  the  body,"  "  The  scaffolding  left 
in  the  body,"  "  The  arrest  of  the  body,"  "  The  dawn  of 
mind,"  "  The  evolution  of  language,"  etc.  These  discus- 
sions naturally  lead  to  a  consideration  of  the  lengthening 
period  of  human  infancy,  and  the  importance  of  infancy 
in  education.  This  in  turn  leads  to  a  brief  consideration 
of  the  periods  of  childhood,  adolescence,  and  maturity, 
largely  from  a  biological  point  of  view.  These  should  be 
followed  by  a  discussion  of  such  topics  as  instinct,  heredity, 
from  fundamental  to  accessory,  the  brain  as  an  organ  of 
mind,  some  of  the  facts  of  psycho-physical  correlation,  and 
the  reciprocal  influence  of  mind  and  body  upon  each  other. 
Before  leaving  this  general  field,  thorough  and  designedly 
practical  discussions  of  the  importance  of  physical  devel- 
opment and  culture  for  education  in  general  and  for  mental 
development,  fatigue,  habit,  physical  and  mental  hygiene, 
and  play  should  be  considered. 
Educational  The  next  section  should  include  what  some  authors  term 
educational  psychology,  and  others  call  the  psychological 
aspects  of  education.  In  this  section  the  first  topic  natur- 
ally considered  is  that  of  memory.  It  grows  out  of  the 
biological  discussion   of  instinct,   heredity,  etc.     Included 


psychology 


The  Teaching  of  Education  369 

in  the  subject  of  memory  is  that  of  association.  Follow- 
ing this  come  imagination,  imitation,  training  of  the  senses, 
apperception,  formal  discipline,  feeling,  volition,  motor 
training,  induction,  etc.  Periods  of  mental  development 
and  the  specific  topics  of  childhood  and  adolescence  should 
receive  definite  consideration,  though  more  exhaustive  treat- 
ment should  be  reserved  for  a  distinct  course  in  child  study. 
The  genetic  point  of  view  should  be  emphasized  throughout. 

While  the  number  of  students  registered  for  educational 
psychology  is  not  large,  the  numbers  that  are  in  reality  pur- 
suing this  branch  are  increasing.  Fortunately,  the 
"  psychology  for  teachers  "  and  "  applied  psychology  "  of 
a  score  of  years  ago  are  giving  way  to  a  kind  of  educational 
psychology  that  is  much  more  vital.  Men  like  Judd  and 
Thorndike  are  formulating  a  psychology  of  the  different 
branches  of  study  and  of  the  teaching  processes  involved 
that  will  enable  the  teacher  to  see  the  connection  between 
the  psychological  laws  and  the  processes  to  be  learned. 
This  sort  of  work  has  been  made  possible  by  the  work  of 
Hall  and  his  followers  in  studying  the  child  and  the 
adolescent  from  the  standpoint  of  growth  periods  and  the 
types  of  activity  suited  to  each  period.  Educational 
psychology  is  therefore  represented  richly  in  principles  of 
education,  genetic  psychology,  mental  development,  child 
study,  and  adolescence,  as  well  as  in  the  courses  labeled 
"  Educational  Psychology." 

Twelve  years  ago  courses  on  social  phases  of  education    Socuias- 
were  probably  not  offered  anywhere,  as  they  are  not  listed    cation 
in  my  tabulation  at  that  time.     Today  they  appear  in  some 
form  or  other   in  almost  every  department  of  education. 
In  Columbia  the  work  is  given  as  "  Educational  Sociology." 
The  departments  of  sociology  also  emphasize  various  phases 
of  educational  problems.     Courses  on  vocational  education,    * 
industrial  education,  and  vocational  guidance  all  emphasize 
the  same  idea.     The  introduction  of  these  courses  means  u 

that  the  merely  disciplinary  aim  of  education  is  fast  giving 
way  to  that  of  adjustment  and  utility.     Educational  means    « 
are  (1)  to  enable  the  child  to  live  happily  and  to  develop 


870  College  Teaching 

normally,  and  (2)  to  furnish  a  kind  of  training  which  will 
enable  him  to  serve  society  to  the  utmost  advantage.  In 
the  courses  on  educational  sociology,  there  should  be  an 
attempt  to  help  the  student  feel  that  the  highest  aim  of 
education  is  not  individualistic,  but  social.  The  purpose 
is  to  fit  the  individual  for  cooperation,  developing  agencies 
of  life  that  shall  be  mutually  advantageous,  for  democratic 
society  seeks  the  highest  welfare  of  all  its  members  through 
the  cooperation  and  contribution  of  each  of  its  members. 
It  teaches  us  not  only  the  rights  and  privileges  of  society 
but  also  its  duties  and  obligations. 

The  best  individual  development  also  comes  only  through 
the  social  interaction  of  minds,  and  consequently  various 
phases  of  social  psychology  must  receive  consideration. 
Various  forms  of  cooperative  effort  which  enlist  the  interest 
of  children  at  various  stages  of  development  should  be 
studied.  Inasmuch  as  educators  should  link  school  and 
home,  typical  illustrations  of  the  manifold  means  of  relat- 
ing the  school  and  society  should  be  studied,  so  that  the 
teacher  will  not  be  without  knowledge  of  their  possibilities. 
ThechUd  Throughout    the    country    there    is    evidence    that    the 

curricula  in  education  departments  have  for  their  central 
object  a  scientific  knowledge  of  the  child  and  the  better 
adaptation  of  educational  means  to  the  development  of 
the  potentialities  possessed  by  the  child.  This  idea  is  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  the  foundation  courses  are  psy- 
chology, principles  of  education,  child  study,  educational 
psychology.  The  fact  that  the  history  of  education  is  still 
so  largely  given  as  a  relatively  beginning  course  shows  that 
the  new  idea  has  not  gained  complete  acceptance.  Many 
specialized  courses  in  child  study  are  offered,  among  them 
being  such  courses  as  the  "  Psychology  of  Childhood," 
"Childhood  and  Adolescence,"  "Psychopathic,  Retarded, 
and  Mentally  Deficient  Children,"  "Genetic  Psychology," 
"  The  Anthropological  Study  of  Children,"  "  The  Physical 
Nature  of  the  Child."  At  the  University  of  Pittsburgh  a 
school  of  childhood  has  been  established  which  will  com- 
bine in  theory  and  practice  the  best  ideals  in  the  kinder- 


ttae  center 


The  Teaching  of  Education  371 

garten,  the  modern  primary  school,  and  the  Montessori 
system.  Clark  University  has  had  for  some  years  its 
Children's  Institute,  which  attempts  to  assemble  the  best 
literature  on  childhood  and  the  best  materials  of  instruction 
in  childhood.  Many  of  the  courses  in  educational  tests  and 
measurements  center  around  the  study  of  the  child. 

Naturally,  methods  of  teaching  the  subject  vary  exceed-  Methods  of 
ingly  in  the  different  institutions.  Each  instructor  to  a  tho*^8ubfect 
large  extent  follows  his  own  individual  inclinations.  Prob- 
ably the  great  majority  pursue  the  lecture  method  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  The  lectures  are  generally  accompanied 
by  readings  either  from  some  textbook  or  from  collateral 
readings. 

The  writer  has  personally  pursued  the  combination 
method.  For  years  before  his  own  book  on  Principles  of 
Education  was  completed  the  subject  was  presented  in 
lecture  form,  and  accompanied  by  library  readings.  Even 
now,  with  a  textbook  at  hand,  each  new  topic  is  outlined 
in  an  informal  development  lecture.  Definite  assignments 
are  made  from  the  text,  and  from  collateral  readings,  which 
include  additional  texts,  periodical  literature,  and  selected 
chapters  from  various  educational  books.  After  students 
have  had  an  opportunity  to  read  copiously  and  to  think 
out  special  problems,  an  attempt  is  made  to  discuss  the 
entire  topic  orally.  That  is  possible  and  very  fruitful  in 
classes  of  the  right  size, —  not  over  thirty.  In  large  classes 
numbering  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  or  more,  the  oral 
discussion  is  not  profitable  unless  the  instructor  is  very 
skilled  in  conducting  the  discussion.  The  questions  should 
never  be  for  the  purpose  of  merely  securing  answers  per- 
fectly obvious  to  all  in  the  class.  The  questions  should  seek 
to  unfold  new  phases  of  the  subject.  Difficult  points  should 
be  considered,  new  contributions  should  be  made  by  the 
students  and  the  instructor,  and  all  should  feel  that  it  is 
really  an  enlargement,  a  broadening,  and  a  deepening  of 
ideas  gained  through  the  lectures  and  the  assigned  readings. 
Very  frequently  individual  students  should  be  assigned 
special  topics  for  report.     A  good  deal  of  care  must  be 


372  College  Teaching 

exercised  in  this  connection,  for  unless  the  material  is  a 
real  contribution  and  is  presented  effectively,  the  rest  of  the 
students  become  wearied.  If  possible,  the  instructor  should 
know  exactly  what  points  are  to  be  brought  out,  and  the 
approximate   amount  of  time   to   be   occupied. 

Throughout,  an  attempt  is  made  to  make  the  work  as  con- 
crete as  possible,  and  to  show  its  relation  to  matters  per- 
taining to  the  schoolroom,  the  home,  and  the  everyday 
conduct  of  the  students  themselves.  Each  topic  is  treated 
with  considerable  thoroughness  and  detail.  No  endeavor  is 
made  to  secure  an  absolutely  systematic  and  ultra-logical 
system.  The  charge  of  being  logically  unsystematic  and 
incomplete  would  not  be  resented.  There  is  no  desire  for 
a  system.  As  in  the  elementary  stages  of  any  subject,  the 
first  requisite  is  a  body  of  fundamental  facts.  There  is 
time  enough  later  to  evolve  an  all-inclusive  and  all-ex- 
clusive system.  I  am  not  aware  that  even  the  "  doctors  " 
have  yet  fully  settled  this  question.  The  psychological 
order  is  the  one  sought.  What  is  intelligible,  full  of  living 
interest,  and  of  largest  probable  importance  in  the  life  and 
work  of  the  student  teacher  are  the  criteria  applied  in  the 
selection  of  materials.  The  student  verdict  is  given  much 
weight  in  deciding. 

A  rather  successful  plan  of  providing  an  adequate  number 
of  duplicates  of  books  much  used  has  been  developed  by 
the  writer  at  the  State  University  of  Iowa  and  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Washington.  In  all  courses  in  which  no  single 
suitable  text  is  found  the  students  are  asked  to  contribute 
a  small  sum,  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents,  for  the  purpose 
of  purchasing  duplicates.  These  books  are  placed  on  the 
reserve  shelf,  and  this  makes  it  possible  for  large  classes 
to  be  accommodated  with  a  relatively  small  number  of 
books.  Ordinarily  there  should  be  one  book  for  every  four 
or  five  students,  if  all  are  expected  to  read  the  same  as- 
signment. If  options  are  allowed,  the  proportion  of  books 
may  be  reduced.  The  books  become  the  property  of  the 
institution,  and  a  fine  library  of  duplicate  sets  rapidly  ac- 
cumulates.    In  about  five  years  about  fifteen  hundred  vol- 


The  Teaching  of  Education  373 

umes  have  been  secured  in  this  way  at  the  University  of 
Washington.  Valuable  pamphlet  material  and  reprints  of 
important  articles  also  are  collected  and  kept  in  filing  boxes. 

Frederick  E.  Bolton 

University  of  ffashington 

Bibliography 
1.  articles  on  teaching  of  educational  theory 

Bolton,  Frederick  E.  The  Relation  of  the  Department  of  Education 
to  Other  Departments  in  Colleges  and  Universities.  Journal  of 
Pedagogy,  Vol.  XIX,  Nos.  2,  3,  December,  1906,  March.  1907. 

Curricula  in  University  Departments  of  Education.     School  and 

Society,  December  11,  1915,  pages  829-841. 

Judo,  Charles  H.  The  Department  of  Education  in  American  Uni- 
versities.    School  Review,  Vol.  17,  November,  1909. 

HoLLiSTER,  Horace  A.  Courses  in  Education  Best  Adapted  to  the 
Needs  of  High  School  Teachers  and  High  School  Principals. 
School  and  Home  Education,  April,  1917. 

2.    BOOKS   ON    THE   GENERAL,    BIOLOGICAL,   AND 
PSYCHOLOGICAL    PHASES   OF   EDUCATION 

Bacley.  William  C.  The  Educative  Process.  The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany, 1907.    358  pages, 

Educational     Values.     The     Macmillan     Company,     1911.     267 

pages. 

Bolton,  Frederick  E.    Principles  of  Education.    Charles  Scribner's 

Sons,  1910.    790  pages. 
Butler,  Nicholas  Murray.     The  Meaning  of  Education,  and  Other 

Essays.    The   Macmillan   Company,   1915.     386   pages.     Revised 

Edition. 
CuBBERLEY,     Ellwood     P.     Changing     Conceptions     of     Education. 

Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1909.     70  pages. 
Davenport,    Eugene.     Education    for    Efficiency.     D.    C.    Heath    & 

Company,  1909.     184  pages. 
Dewey,  John.     Democracy  and  Education:  An  Introduction   to  the 

Philosophy  of  Education.     Macmillan,  1916.     434  pages. 
Freeman,    Frank    N.    Experimental    Education.    Houghton    Mifflin 

Company,  1916.     220  pages. 

Psychology  of  the  Common  Branches.  Houghton  Mifflin  Com- 
pany, 1916.    275  pages. 

How   Children   Learn.     Houghton   Mifflin   Company,   1917.     322 

pages. 


374  College  Teaching 

Gordon,  Kate.    Educational  Psychology.    Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1917. 

294  pages. 
Groszmann,   M.    p.    E.     Some   Fundamental    Verities   in   Education. 

Richard  Badger,  1916.     118  pages. 
GuYER,  Michael.    Being  Well-Born.    Bobbs-Merrill  Company,  1916. 

374  pages. 
Hall.  G.   S.    Educational  Problems.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,   1911.    2 

volumes,  710  pages  and  714  pages. 
Heck,  W.  H.    Mental  Discipline  and  Educational  Values.    John  Lane 

&  Co.,  1911.     208  pages. 
Henderson,  Charles  H.    Education  and  the  Larger  Life.    Houghton 

Mifflin  Company,  1912.     386  pages. 

What  Is  It  to  be  Educated?    Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1914. 

462  pages. 

Henderson,  Ernest  N.    A  Textbook  on  the  Principles  of  Education. 

The  Macmillan  Company,  1910.    593  pages. 
HoRNE,  Herman  H.     The  Philosophy  of  Education.    The  Macmillan 

Company,  1904.    295  pages. 

The   Psychological    Principles    of    Education.    The    Macmillan 

Company,  1906.    435  pages. 

Klapper,  Paul.  Principles  of  Educational  Practice.  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.,  1912.    485  pages. 

Moore,  Ernest  C.  What  Is  Education?  Ginn  and  Co.,  1915.  357 
pages. 

O'Shea,  M.  Vincent.  Dynamic  Factors  in  Education.  The  Macmil- 
lan Company,  1906.    321  pages. 

Education  as  Adjustment.    Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  1903.    348 

pages. 

Linguistic  Development  and  Education.  The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany, 1907.    347  pages. 

Pyle,  William  H.  The  Science  of  Human  Nature.  Silver,  Burdett  & 
Co.,  1917.    229  pages. 

The   Outlines   of   Educational  Psychology.    Warwick   &   York, 

1911.    276  pages. 

RUEOICER,  William   C.     Principles  of  Education.    Houghton  Mifflin 

Company,  1910.     305  pages. 
Spencer,  Herbert.    Education,  Intellectual,  Moral,  and  Physical.    D. 

Appleton  &  Co.,  1900.    301  pages. 
Thorndike,  Edward  L.    Principles  of  Teaching.    A.  G.  Seller,  1906. 

293  pages. 

Education:  A  First  Book.    The  Macmillan  Company,  1912.    292 

pages. 

Individuality.     Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1911.     56  pages. 

Educational  Psychology.    Teachers  College,  1913.     Vol.  I.     The 

Original  Nature  of  Man.    327  pages. 


The  Teaching  of  Education  375 

3.    BOOKS   ON   THE   SOCIAL   PHASES   OF   EDUCATION 

Betts,  George  H.     Social  Principles  of  Education.    Charles  Scrib- 

ner's  Sons,  1912.    313  pages. 
Cabot,  Ella  L.     Volunteer  Help  to  the  Schools.    Houghton  Mifflin 

Company,  1914.     141  pages. 
Dewey,  John.     The  School  and  Society.     University  of  Chicago  Press, 

1907.     129  pages. 

The  Schools  of   Tomorrow.    E.   P.   Dutton   &   Co.,    1915.    316 

pages. 

Democracy   and   Education.    The    Macmillan    Company,    1916. 

434  pages. 

Dewey,  John,  and  Small,  Albion  W.  My  Educationtd  Creed,  h. 
L.  Kellogg  &  Co.,  1897.     36  pages. 

Dutton,  Samuel  T.  Social  Phases  of  Education  in  the  School  and 
the  Home.    The  Macmillan  Company,  1900.     259  pages. 

Gillette,  John  M.  Constructive  Rural  Sociology.  Sturgis  &  Wal- 
ton, 1913.     301  pages. 

King,  Irving.  Education  for  Social  Efficiency.  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
1913.     371  pages. 

Social  Aspects  of  Education.     A  Book  of  Sources  and  Original 

Discussions,    with    Annotated    Bibliographies.     The    Macmillan 
Company,  1912. 

McDouGALL.  William.  An  Introduction  to  Social  Psychology.  John 
W.  Luce,  1914.     355  pages. 

O'Shea,  M.  Vincent.  Social  Development  and  Education.  Hough- 
ton Mifflin  Company,  1909.     561  pages. 

Scott,  Colin  A.    Social  Education.    Ginn  and  Co.,  1908.     300  pages. 

Smith,  Walter  R.  An  Introduction  to  EducatioruU  Sociology. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1917.    412  pages. 

4.    BOOKS   ON    CHILDHOOD   AND   ADOLESCENCE 

Drum.mond,  William  B.  An  Introduction  to  Child  Study.  Long- 
mans, Green  &  Co.,  1907.     347  pages. 

Gesell,  Beatrice  C.  and  Arnold.  The  Normal  Child  and  Primary 
Education.    Ginn  and  Co.,  1912.     342  pages. 

Groszmann,  M.  p.  E.  The  Career  of  the  Child.  Richard  Badger, 
1911.     335  pages. 

Hall,  G.  Stanley.  Youth,  Its  Education,  Regimen,  and  Hygiene. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1907.     379  pages. 

Aspects  of  Child  Life  and  Education.    Ginn  and  Co.,  1907.     326 

pages. 

Adolescence:   Its   Psychology  and  Its  Relations  to  Physiology, 

Anthropology,  Sociology,  Sex,  Crime,  Religion,   and  Education. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1904.     2  vols.,  589  and  784  pages. 


376  College  Teaching 

King,  Irving.  The  High  School  Age.  Bobbs-Merrill  Company,  1914. 
288  pages. 

KiRKPATRiCK,  Edwin  A.  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study.  The  Mac- 
millan  Company,  1903.     384  pages. 

Genetic  Psychology :  An  Introduction  to  an  objective  and  genetic 

view  of  intelligence.    The  Macmillan  Company,  1909.    373  pages. 

Oppenheim,  Nathan.  The  Development  of  the  Child.  The  Macmil- 
lan Company,  1898.    2%  pages. 

Sully,  James.  Studies  of  Childhood.  D.  Applelon  &  Co.,  1910.  527 
pages. 

Swift,  Edgar  J.  Youth  and  the  Race.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons, 
1912.     342  pages. 

Tanner,  Amy  E.  The  ChUd:  His  Thinking,  Feeling,  and  Doing. 
1904.    430  pages. 

Terman,  Lewis  M.  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Child.  Houghton 
Mifflin  Company,  1914.    417  pages. 

Tracy,  Frederick,  and  Stimpfl,  James.  The  Psychology  of  Child- 
hood.   D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  1909.    231  pages. 

Tyler,  John  Mason.  Growth  and  Education.  Houghton  Mifflin 
Company,  1907.    294  pages. 

Waddle,  Charles  W.  Introduction  to  Child  Psychology.  Houghton 
Mifflin  Company,  1918.    307  pages. 


PART  FOUR 
The  Languages  and  Literatures 

CHAPTER 

XVIII    The  Teaching  of  Engush  Literature 

Caleb  T.  Winchester 

XIX    The  Teaching  of  English  Composition 

Henry  Seidel  Canby 

XX    The  Teaching  of  the  Classics 

William  K.  Prentice 

XXI    The  Teaching  of  the  Romance  Languages 

William  A.  Nitze 

XXII    The  Teaching  of  German 

E.  Prokosch 


XVIII 
THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


IT  should  be  understood  at  the  outset  that  this  paper  is 
concerned  with  the  study  of  literature,  not  in  the  uni- 
versity or  graduate  school,  but  in  the  college,  by  the  under- 
graduate candidate  for  the  bachelor's  degree;  and,  further- 
more, that  the  object  of  study  is  not  the  history,  biography, 
bibliography,  or  criticism  of  literature,  but  the  literature 
itself.  Perhaps  also  the  term  "  literature  "  may  need  defini- 
tion. As  commonly  —  and  correctly  —  used,  the  word 
"  literature  "  denotes  all  writing  which  has  suflScient  emo- 
tional interest,  whether  primary  or  incidental,  to  give  it 
permanence.  As  thus  defined,  literature  would  include,  for 
example,  history  and  much  philosophical  writing,  and 
would  exclude  only  writing  of  purely  scientific  or  technical 
character.  But  in  the  following  pages  the  word  will  be 
used  in  a  narrower  sense,  as  indicating  those  books  that 
are  read  for  their  own  sake,  not  solely  or  primarily  for  their 
intellectual  content.  This  definition  is  elastic  enough  to 
comprise  not  only  poetry,  drama,  and  fiction,  but  the  essay, 
oratory,  and  much  political  and  satirical  prose.  It  should 
be  further  understood  that  for  the  purpose  of  this  paper, 
English  literature  may  be  considered  to  begin  about  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Earlier  and  Anglo- 
Saxon  writings  are  by  no  means  without  great  literary 
value,  and  it  may  at  once  be  granted  that  no  college  teacher 
of  English  literature  is  thoroughly  equipped  for  his  work 
who  is  ignorant  of  them;  but  they  can  be  read  appreciatively 
only  after  considerable  study  of  the  language,  the  method 
and  motives  of  which  are  linguistic  rather  than  literary. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  asked  just  here  whether  English  litera- 
ture, as  thus  defined,  need  be  studied  in  college  at  all. 
Until  quite  recently  that  question  seems  generally  to  have 
been  answered  in  the  negative.  Fifty  years  ago,  few  if  any 
of  our  American  colleges  gave  any  study  to  texts  of  English 

379 


Scope  of 
study  of 
English 
literature 
in  college 


Aims  gov- 
erning the 
teaching  of 
English 
literature 


380  College  Teaching 

classics.     There  were,  indeed,  in  most  colleges  professors 
of    rhetoric    and    belles-lettres,    whose    lectures    upon    the 
history  and  criticism  of  our  literature  were  often  of  great 
value  as  an  inspiration  to  literary  study;  but  it  was  only 
in  the  decade  from  1865  to  1875  that  in  most  of  our  colleges 
the  literature  itself,  with  hesitating  caution,  began  to  be 
read  and  studied  in  the  classroom. 
Oanuterary         Nor  was  this  hesitation  without  some  reasons,  at  least 
be^devei-  **"    plausible.     The  chief  object  of  college  training,  it  was  said, 
oped?  is  to  discipline  and   strengthen  the  intellect,  to   give  the 

student  that  grasp  and  power  of  thought  which  he  may 
apply  to  all  the  work  of  later  life.  The  college  should 
not  be  expected  to  pay  much  attention  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  imagination  and  the  emotions.  These  faculties,  to 
which  literature  makes  appeal,  are  not,  it  was  said,  under 
the  control  of  the  will,  and  you  cannot  cultivate  or 
strengthen  them  by  sheer  resolve  or  strenuous  exertion. 
The  first  condition  of  any  real  appreciation  of  literature, 
so  ran  the  argument,  is  spontaneous  enjoyment  of  it;  and 
you  cannot  command  a  right  feeling  for  literature  or  for 
anything  else.  But  a  normal  development  of  the  imagina- 
tion and  the  emotions  does  usually  accompany  the  vigorous 
development  of  the  intellect,  so  that  the  advancing  student 
will  be  found  to  turn  spontaneously  to  art  and  literature. 
And  his  appreciation  of  all  the  highest  and  deepest  mean- 
ings in  literature  will  be  quickened  because  he  brings  to 
his  reading  a  mind  trained  to  accurate  and  vigorous  think- 
ing. Moreover,  all  substantial  advantages  from  the  study 
of  modern  vernacular  literature  can  be  better  obtained 
from  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics.  They  afford  the  same 
.  richness  of  thought  and  charm  of  form  as  our  modern  writ- 

ing; but  they  demand  for  their  appreciation  that  careful 
attention  and  study  which  modern  literature  too  often  dis- 
courages. The  survivors  of  a  former  generation  sometimes 
ask  us  today,  with  a  touch  of  sarcasm,  "  Do  you  think 
the  average  New  England  college  student  of  fifty  to  seventy- 
five  years  ago,  when  the  Emersons  and  Longfellows  and 
Lowells  were  young  men,  the  days  of  the  old  North  Ameri- 


The  Teaching  of  English  Literature    381 


can  Review  and  the  new  Atlantic  Monthly,  had  any  less  ap- 
preciation and  enjoyment  of  whatever  is  good  in  literature, 
or  any  less  power  to  produce  it,  than  the  young  fellows 
who  are  coming  out  of  college  today  after  more  than  a 
quarter  century  of  literary  instruction?  "  And  they  occa- 
sionally suggest  that,  at  all  events,  it  is  diflicult  to  find  any 
evidences  of  the  result  of  such  instruction  in  the  quality 
of  the  literature  produced  or  demanded  today. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  study  of  English  literature  often 
fares  little  better  with  the  advocates  of  the  modern  practical 
tendency  in  education.  They  have  but  scanty  allowance 
for  a  study  assumed  to  be  of  so  little  use  in  the  actual 
work  of  life.  An  acquaintance  with  well-known  English 
books,  especially  if  they  be  modem  books,  is,  they  admit, 
a  desirable  accomplishment  if  it  can  be  gained  without  too 
much  cost,  but  not  to  be  allowed  the  place  of  more  valuable 
knowledge.  A  typical  modern  father,  writing  not  long  ago 
to  a  modern  educator,  after  giving  with  equal  positiveness 
the  subjects  that  his  boy  must  have  and  must  not  have 
included  in  his  course  of  study,  added  by  way  of  conces- 
sion, "  The  boy  might,  if  he  has  time,  take  English  litera- 
ture." 

Now  in  answer  to  this  second  class  of  objectors,  it  may  be 
frankly  admitted  that  the  study  of  English  literature  is 
primarily,  if  not  entirely,  cultural.  A  boy  may  not  make 
a  better  engineer  or  practical  chemist  for  having  studied 
in  college  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  or  the  prose  of  Ruskin. 
And  to  the  older  objectors,  who  urge  that  literary  study 
can  ever  give  that  severe  intellectual  discipline  afforded  by 
the  older,  narrower  college  course,  we  reply  that  it  is  not 
merely  the  intellectual  powers  that  need  culture  and  dis- 
cipline. The  ideal  college  training  will  surely  not  neglect 
the  imagination  and  emotions,  the  faculties  which  so  largely 
determine  the  conduct  of  life.  And  at  no  period  in  the 
educational  process  is  the  need  of  wide  moral  training 
so  urgent  as  in  those  years  when  the  young  man  is  form- 
ing independent  judgments  and  his  tastes  are  taking  their 
final  set.     The  study  of  English  literature  finds  its  warrant 


Conflict  of 
utilitarian 
and  cultural 
standards 


Cultural 
and  ntUi- 
tarian 
standards 
harmonized 


382 


College  Teacliing 


Appreciation 
the  ultimate 
aim  in  the 
teaching  of 
literature 


Apprecia- 
tive study 
of  literary 
master- 
pieces in- 
volves vigor- 
ous mental 
exercise 


for  a  place  in  the  college  curriculum  principally  because, 
better  than  any  other  subject,  it  is  fitted  to  cultivate  both  the 
emotional  and  the  intellectual  sides  of  our  nature.  For 
in  all  genuine  literature  those  two  elements,  the  intellectual 
and  the  emotional,  are  united;  you  cannot  get  either  one 
fully  without  getting  the  other.  In  some  forms  of  liter- 
ature, as  in  poetry,  the  emotional  appeal  is  the  main  pur- 
pose of  the  writing;  but  even  here  no  really  profound 
or  sublime  emotion  is  possible  without  a  solid  basis  of 
thought. 

This,  then,  let  us  understand,  is  the  primary  object  of  all 
college  teaching  in  this  department.  It  affords  the  student 
opportunity  and  incitement  to  read,  during  his  four  years, 
a  considerable  number  of  our  best  classics,  representative 
of  different  periods  and  different  forms  of  literature,  and 
to  read  them  with  such  intelligence  and  appreciation  as  to 
receive  from  them  that  discipline  of  thought  and  feeling 
which  literature  better  than  anything  else  is  fitted  to  im- 
part. If  the  student  would  or  could  do  this  reading  by 
himself,  without  formal  requirement  or  assistance,  there 
might  be  little  need,  of  undergraduate  teaching  of  litera- 
ture; but  every  one  who  knows  much  of  American  college 
conditions  knows  that  the  average  undergraduate  has  neither 
time,  inclination,  nor  ability   for  such  voluntary  reading. 

Just  here  lies  a  difficulty  peculiar  to  the  college  teacher 
in  this  department.  All  studies  that  appeal  primarily  to 
the  intellect  and  call  only  for  careful  attention  and  vigor- 
ous thinking  can  be  prescribed,  and  mastery  of  them  rigidly 
enforced.  Indeed,  the  ambitious  student  is  often  stimulated 
to  more  vigorous  effort  by  the  very  difficulty  of  his  sub- 
ject. But  the  appreciative  reading  of  any  work  of  litera- 
ture cannot  thus  be  prescribed.  Of  course  the  instructor 
may  do  much  to  help  the  student  to  such  appreciation  — 
that,  indeed,  is  his  chief  duty;  but  he  will  not  try  to  ex- 
pound or  enjoin  emotional  effects.  Recognizing  these 
limitations  upon  his  work,  he  often  finds  it  difficult  to  avoid 
one  or  the  other  of  two  dangers  that  beset  all  efforts  to 
teach  a  vernacular  literature:   the  student  must  not  think 


Jlie  Teaching  of  English  Literature     383 

his  reading  an  idle  pastime,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  must 
he  think  it  a  repellent  task.  In  the  first  case,  he  is  likely 
never  to  read  anything  well;  in  the  second  case,  the  things 
best  worth  reading  he  will  probably  never  read  at  all. 
Of  the  two  dangers,  the  first  is  the  more  serious.  The 
student  ought  early  to  learn  that  no  really  good  reading 
is  "  light  reading."  And  it  may  be  remarked  that  this 
lesson  was  never  more  needed  than  today.  There  was  never 
a  time  when  people  of  all  classes  read  more  and  thought 
less.  We  have  what  might  almost  be  called  a  plague  of 
reading,  and  an  astonishing  amount  of  what  is  called 
"reading  matter"  rolling  out  of  our  presses  every  year; 
while,  significantly,  we  are  producing  very  few  books  of 
permanent  literary  value.  If  the  college  study  of  litera- 
ture is  to  encourage  this  indolent  receptive  temper,  and 
relax  the  intellectual  fiber  of  the  student,  then  we  might 
better  drop  it  from  the  curriculum.  The  student  must  some- 
how learn  that  the  book  that  is  worth  while  will  tax  his 
thought,  his  imagination,  his  sympathies.  He  cannot  be 
content  merely  to  leave  the  door  of  his  mind  lazily  open 
to  it.  Every  tgacher  knows  the  difficulty  in  any  attempt 
to  inspire  or  direct  such  a  pupil.  And  the  simpler  the 
subject  assigned  him,  the  greater  the  difficulty.  Give  him, 
for  example,  a  group  of  the  best  lyrics  in  the  language, 
in  which  the  thought  is  simple  and  the  sentiment  homely 
or  familiar.  He  will  glance  over  them  in  half  an  hour, 
and  then  wonder  what  more  you  want  of  him.  And  you 
may  not  find  it  so  easy  to  tell  him.  For  he  does  not  per- 
ceive nice  shades  of  feeling,  he  has  little  sense  of  poetic 
form,  he  has  not  read  the  poems  aloud  to  get  the  charm 
of  their  melody,  and  he  will  not  let  them  linger  in  his  mind 
long  enough  to  feel  that  the  simplest  sentiments  are  often 
the  most  profound  and  moving.  He  simply  tries  to  con- 
jecture what  sort  of  questions  he  is  likely  to  meet  on 
examination.  Doubtless  from  this  type  of  pupil  better  re- 
sults can  be  obtained  by  the  reading  of  prose  not  too 
familiar,  that  suggests  more  questions  for  reflection  and  dis- 
cussion. 


384 


College  Teaching 


Suggestions 
for  teacbiug 
of  English 
literature 
—  Emotion- 
al apprecia- 
tion to  have 
an  intellec- 
tual basis 


■\ 


Abundant 
oral  read- 
ing by  teach- 
er an  aid  to 
apprecia- 
tion 


It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  lay  down  a  detailed  method 
for  the  teaching  of  English  literature.  Much  depends  upon 
the  nature  of  the  literature  read,  the  temperament  of  the 
teacher,  the  aptitude  of  the  pupil.  Every  teacher  will, 
in  great  measure,  discover  his  own  methods.  At  all  events, 
no  attempts  will  be  made  here  to  give  more  than  a  few 
suggestions.  In  the  first  place,  the  teacher  will  remember 
that  every  work  of  literature  —  except  purely  "  imagist  " 
poetry,  which  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  teach  —  is  based 
upon  some  thought  or  truth;  in  most  varieties  of  prose 
literature  this  forms  the  main  purpose  of  the  writing. 
The  first  object  of  the  student's  reading,  therefore,  must  be 
to  understand  thoroughly  the  intellectual  element  in  what 
he  reads;  and  here  the  instructor  can  often  be  of  direct 
assistance.  And  after  such  careful  reading,  the  higher 
emotional  values  of  what  he  has  read  will  often  disclose 
themselves  spontaneously,  so  that  the  reader  will  need  little 
further  help. 

Just  here  it  is  worth  while  to  note  the  great  value  of 
reading  aloud,  both  by  the  teacher  as  a  means  of  instruc- 
tion, and  by  the  pupil  as  a  test  of  appreciation.  All  good 
writing  gains  vastly  when  read  thus.  Mentally,  at  all 
events,  we  must  image  its  sound  if  we  are  to  get  its  full 
value.  As  to  poetry,  that  goes  without  saying;  for  the 
essential,  defining  element  in  poetry  is  music.  You  may 
have  truth,  beauty,  imagination,  emotion,  but  without  music 
you  have  not  yet  got  poetry.  But  it  is  hardly  less  true 
that  prose  should  be  read  aloud.  "The  best  test  of  good 
writing,"  said  Hazlitt  —  and  no  man  in  his  generation  wrote 
better  prose  than  he  — "  is,  does  it  read  well  aloud."  The 
sympathetic  oral  reading  of  a  passage  from  any  prose 
master,  a  reading  that  naturally  indicates  points  of 
emphasis,  shades  of  thought,  nuances  of  feeling,  is  often 
better  than  any  formal  explanation,  for  it  reproduces  the 
living  voice  of  the  writer.  The  wise  teacher  will  avoid  the 
mannerisms  of  the  professed  elocutionist  or  dramatic  reader, 
but  he  will  not  neglect  the  value  of  truthful  oral  interpreta- 
tion for  many  passages  of  beautiful,  or  subtle,  or  power- 


The  Teaching  of  English  Literature     385 


ful  writing.  And  the  student  will  often  give  a  better  proof 
of  intelligent  appreciation  by  reading  aloud,  "  with  good 
accent  and  discretion,"  than  by  any  more  elaborate  form 
oX  examination. 

\  Some  varieties  of  literature  can  best  be  approached  in- 
directly, through  a  study  of  the  life  of  the  author,  or  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived.  As  any  great  work  of  pure  litera- 
ture must  come  out  of  the  author's  deepest  life,  it  is  evident 
that  any  knowledge  of  that  life  gained  from  other  sources 
may  be  an  important  aid  in  the  appreciation  of  his  work. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  case  of  a  writer  of  supreme  and  almost 
impartial  dramatic  genius,  such  knowledge  may  be  of  com- 
paratively little  value;  though  few  of  us  will  admit  that 
it  is  merely  an  idle  curiosity  that  would  be  gratified  by  a 
fuller  knowledge  even  of  the  man  William  Shakespeare. 
But  all  the  more  subjective  forms  of  literature,  such  as  the 
lyric  and  the  essay,  can  hardly  be  studied  intelligently 
without  some  biographical  introduction.  Still  more 
obvious  is  the  need  in  many  instances  of  some  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  period  in  which  a  given  work  is  produced. 
For  all  such  writing  as  grows  directly  out  of  political  or 
social  conditions,  as  oratory,  or  political  satire,  or  various 
forms  of  the  essay,  this  is  clearly  necessary.  It  would  be 
folly  to  attempt  to  read  the  speeches  of  Edmund  Burke  or 
the  political  writings  of  Swift  without  historical  introduc- 
tion and  comment.  But  the  historical  setting  is  hardly  less 
important  in  many  other  forms  of  literature.  For  the 
whole  cast  of  an  author's  mind,  the  habitual  tone  of  his 
feeling  on  most  important  matters,  is  often  largely  decided 
by  his  environment.  It  is  only  a  very  inadequate  apprecia- 
tion, for  example,  of  the  work  not  only  of  Carlyle  and 
Ruskin  but  of  Tennyson,  Browning,  and  Matthew  Arnold, 
that  is  possible  without  some  correct  knowledge  of  the 
varying  attitude  of  these  men  toward  important  movements 
in  English  thought,  social,  economic,  religious,  between 
1830  and  1880.  It  must  always  be  an  important  part  of 
the  duty  of  the  college  teacher  of  literature  to  provide 
such  biographical  and  historical  information. 


Knowledge 
of  author's 
life  and  art 
and  of  ideals 
of  the  times 
necessary 
for  compre- 
hension and 
appreciation 


J 


386 


College  Teaching 


Knowledge 
of  an 
author's 
style  to  he 
result  of 
apprecla- 
tiye  study 
of  his  works 
and  not 
gathered 
from  texts 
on  literary 
criticism 


Careful  at- 
tention to 
critical 
analysis 


Content  of 
coUege 
course  in 
literature 


All  careful  study  of  literature  must  involve  some  atten- 
tion to  manner  or  style  —  not  so  much,  however,  for  -its 
own  sake,  as  a  means  for  the  fuller  appreciation  of  what 
is  read.  In  strictness,  style  has  only  one  virtue,  clear- 
ness; only  one  vice,  obscurity.  A  perfect  style  is  a  trans- 
parent medium  through  which  we  plainly  see  the  thought 
and  feeling  of  the  writer.  Such  a  style  may,  indeed,  often 
have  striking  peculiarities,  but  these  are  really  the  marks 
of  the  writer's  personality,  which  his  style  reveals  without 
exaggerating.  All  rhetorical  study  ought,  therefore,  to  ac- 
company or  follow,  not  to  precede,  the  careful  reading  for 
appreciation.  No  good  book  ought  ever  to  be  considered 
a  mere  corpus  vile  for  rhetorical  praxis. 
^)  Of  much  greater  value  is  that  distinctively  critical 
analysis  which  endeavors  to  discover  the  different  elements, 
intellectual,  imaginative,  emotional,  that  enter  into  any  work 
of  literature,  and  to  determine  their  relative  amount  and 
importance.  Such  analysis  may  well  form  the  subject  of 
classroom  discussion,  and  advanced  students  should  often 
be  required  to  put  the  conclusions  they  have  drawn  from 
such  discussion  into  the  form  of  a  finished  critical  essay. 
All  exercises  of  this  kind  presuppose,  of  course,  that  the 
work  criticized  has  been  read  with  interest  and  intelligence; 
but  no  form  of  literary  study  is  more  stimulating  or  tends 
more  directly  to  the  formation  of  original  and  accurate 
critical  judgments.  It  affords  the  best  test  of  real  literary 
appreciation. 

Obviously  it  is  impossible  with  this  method  of  study  to 
cover  the  entire  field  of  English  literature  in  the  four 
college  years.  It  is  wiser  to  read  a  few  great  books 
well  than  to  read  many  smaller  ones  hurriedly.  It  be- 
comes, therefore,  an  important  question  on  what  prin- 
ciple these  books  should  be  selected  and  grouped  in 
courses.  ^In  the  opinion  of  the  present  writer,  it  is  well 
to  begin'with  a  brief  outline  sketch  of  the  history  of  the 
literature  given  either  in  a  textbook  or  by  lectures,  and 
illustrated  by  a  few  representative  works,  read  carefully 
but   without   much   detailed   or  intensive   study.     Such   an 


The  Teaching  of  English  Literature     387 


introductory  course  may  have  little  cultural  value;  but  it 
furnishes  that  knowledge  of  the  chronological  succession 
of  English  writers,  and  the  varieties  of  literature  dominant 
in  each,  period,  that  is  necessary  for  further  intelligent 
study.  This  knowledge  should,  indeed,  be  given  in  the 
preparatory  schools,  but  unfortunately  it  usually  is  not. 
When  given  in  college,  the  course  should,  if  possible,  be 
assigned  to  the  freshman  year.  In  the  later  years,  the 
works  selected  for  study  will  best  be  grouped  either  by 
period  or  by  subject.  Both  plans  have  their  advantages, 
but  in  most  instances  the  first  will  be  found  the  better. 
The  study  of  a  group  of  contemporary  writers  always  gains 
in  interest  as  we  see  how  they  all,  with  striking  individual 
differences  in  temper  and  subject,  yet  reflect  the  social  and 
moral  life  of  their  age.  Sometimes  the  two  plans  may  be 
united;  a  particular  form  of  literature  may  be  studied 
as  the  best  representative  of  a  period,  as  the  political 
pamphlet  for  the  age  of  Queen  Anne  or  the  extended  essay 
for  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  And  in  some 
rare  instances  a  single  writer  is  at  once  the  highest  repre- 
sentative of  the  age  in  which  he  lived  and  the  supreme 
master  of  the  form  in  which  he  wrote  —  as  Shakespeare 
for  the  drama  and  Milton  for  the  epic. 

These  courses  should  all  —  in  the  judgment  of  the 
present  writer  —  be  elective,  but  should  be  arranged  in 
some  natural  sequence,  those  assigned  to  a  lower  year 
being  preparatory  to  those  of  a  higher.  This  sequence 
need  not  always  be  historical;  the  simpler  course  may  well 
precede  those  which  for  any  reason  are  more  difficult. 
Methods  of  instruction  will  also  naturally  change,  becom- 
ing less  narrowly  didactic  with  the  advancement  of  the 
student.  In  the  senior  year  the  teacher  will  usually  prefer 
to  meet  his  classes  in  small  sections,  on  the  seminar  plan, 
for  informal  discussion  and  the  criticism  of  papers  written 
by  his  pupils  on  questions  suggested  by  their  reading.  Of 
such  questions,  students  who  for  four  years  have  been  read- 
ing the  masterpieces  of  English  literature  will  surely  find 
no  lack. 


Gradation 
of  courses 
and  adapta- 
tion of 
methods  to 
growing  ca- 
pacities of 
students 


388 


College  Teaching 


Under- 
graduate 
vs.  graduate 
teaching  of 
Engllsb  lit- 
erature 


The  number  of  courses  that  can  be  offered  in  the  depart- 
ment will  depend  in  some  cases  upon  the  relative  size  of 
the  faculty  and  the  student  body.  For  in  no  other  subject 
is  it  more  important,  especially  in  the  later  years,  that 
the  classes  or  sections  should  be  small  enough  to  allow 
some  intimate  personal  touch  between  professor  and 
student.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  no  college  department 
of  English  literature  is  well  oflBcered  or  equipped  that 
does  not  furnish  at  least  four  or  five  year-long  courses  of 
instruction.  And  certainly  no  student  can  maintain  for 
four  years  such  an  acquaintance  with  the  best  specimens 
of  a  great  literature  without  gaining  something  of  that 
broad  intelligence,  heightened  imagination,  and  just  ap- 
preciation of  whatever  is  best  in  nature  and  in  human  life, 
which  combine  in  what  we  call  culture. 

Throughout  this  paper  it  has  been  assumed  that  what  has 
been  termed  appreciation  —  that  is,  the  ability  to  under- 
stand and  enjoy  the  best  things  in  literature  —  is  the  one 
central  purpose  to  which  all  efforts  must  be  subservient, 
in  the  teaching  of  English  literature.  But  it  should  be  re- 
membered, as  stated  at  the  outset,  that  this  paper  has  to 
do  with  the  college  undergraduate  only,  the  candidate 
for  the  bachelor's  degree.  In  the  university,  and  to  some 
extent  in  the  graduate  courses  of  the  college  leading  to  the 
master's  degree,  the  subjects  and  methods  of  teaching  may 
well  be  very  different.  Studies  in  comparative  literature, 
studies  of  literary  origins,  the  investigation  of  perplexed 
or  controverted  questions  in  the  life  or  work  of  an  author, 
the  study  and  elucidation  of  the  work  of  an  unknown  or 
little-known  writer  —  all  these  and  many  other  similar 
matters  may  very  properly  be  the  subjects  of  specialized 
graduate  study.  But  they  will  rarely  be  found  of  most 
profit  to  undergraduate  classes. 

Caleb  T.  Winchester 

Wesleyan  University 


XIX 

THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH  COMPOSITION  ^ 


"D 


EEDS,  not  words,"  is  a  platitude  —  a  flat  statement  Language  an 
which  reduces  the  facts  of  the  case  to  an  average,  menui'de- 
and  calls  that  truth.  It  is  absurd  to  imply,  as  does  this  veiopment 
old  truism,  that  we  may  never  judge  a  man  by  his  words. 
Words  are  often  the  most  convenient  indices  of  education, 
of  cultivation,  and  of  intellectual  power.  And  what  is 
more,  a  man's  speech,  a  man's  writing,  when  properly 
interpreted,  may  sometimes  measure  the  potentialities  of 
the  mind  more  thoroughly,  more  accurately,  than  the  deeds 
which  environment,  opportunity,  or  luck  permit.  It  is  hard 
enough  to  take  the  intellectual  measure  even  of  the  makers 
of  history  by  their  acts,  so  rapidly  does  the  apparent  value 
of  their  accomplishments  vary  with  changing  conceptions 
of  what  is  and  what  is  not  worth  doing.  It  is  infinitely 
more  difficult  to  judge  in  advance  of  youths  just  going 
out  into  the  world  by  what  they  do.  Their  words,  which 
reveal  what  they  are  thinking  and  how  they  are  thinking, 
give  almost  the  only  vision  of  their  minds;  and  "by  their 
words  ye  shall  know  them  "  becomes  not  a  perversion,  but 
an  adaptation  of  the  old  text.  Would  you  judge  of  a  boy 
just  graduated  entirely  by  the  acts  he  had  performed  in 
college?  If  you  did,  you  would  make  some  profound  and 
illuminating  mistakes. 

This  explains,  I  think,  why  parents,  and  teachers,  and 
college  presidents,  and  even  undergraduates,  are  exercised 
over  the  study  of  writing  English  —  which  is,  after  all, 
just  the  study  of  the  proper  putting  together  of  words. 
They  may  believe,  all  of  them,  that  their  concern  is  merely 
for  the  results  of  th6  power  to  write  well  —  the  ability 
to  compose  a  good  letter,  to  speak  forcibly  on  occasion, 
to  offer  the  amount  of  literacy  required  for  most  "  jobs." 

1  Reprinted  in  revised  form  from  College  Sons  and  College  Fathers, 
Harper  and  Brothers. 

389 


390 


College  Teaching 


Disappoint- 
ing results 
from  teach- 
ing of  com- 
position 


Fixing  re- 
sponsibility 
for  alleged 
failure  of 
composition 
teaching 


But  I  wonder  if  the  quite  surprising  keenness  of  their  in- 
terest is  not  due  to  another  cause.  I  wonder  if  they  do 
not  feel  —  perhaps  unconsciously  —  that  words  indicate  the 
man,  that  the  power  to  write  well  shows  intellect,  and 
measures,  if  not  its  profundity,  at  least  the  stage  of  its 
development.  We  fasten  on  the  defects  of  the  letters 
written  by  undergraduates,  on  their  faltering  speeches,  on 
their  confused  examination  papers,  as  something  significant, 
ominous,  worthy  even  of  comment  in  the  press.  And  we 
are,  I  believe,  perfectly  right.  Speech  and  writing,  if 
you  get  them  in  fair  samples,  indicate  the  extent  and  the 
value  of  a  college  education  far  better  than  a  degree. 

It  is  this  conviction  which,  pressing  upon  the  schools 
and  colleges,  has  caused  such  a  flood  of  courses  and  text- 
books, such  an  expenditure  of  time,  energy,  and  money  in 
the  teaching  of  composition,  so  many  ardent  hopes  of  ac- 
complishment, so  much  bitter  disappointment  at  relative 
failure.  I  do  not  know  how  many  are  directly  or  in- 
directly teaching  the  writing  of  English  in  America  —  per- 
haps some  tens  of  thousands;  the  imagination  falters  at 
the  thought  of  how  many  are  trying  to  learn  it.  Thus 
the  parent,  conscious  of  this  enormous  endeavor  and  the 
convictions  which  inspire  it,  is  somewhat  appalled  to  hear 
the  critics  without  the  colleges  maintaining  that  we  are  not 
teaching  good  writing,  and  the  critics  within  protesting  that 
good  writing  cannot  be  taught. 

It  is  with  the  teachers,  the  administrators,  the  theorists 
on  education,  but  most  of  all  the  teachers,  that  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  alleged  failure  of  this  great  project  — 
to  endow  the  college  graduate  with  adequate  powers  of 
expression  —  must  be  sought.  But  these  guardians  of  ex- 
pression are  divided  into  many  groups,  of  which  four  are 
chief. 

There  is  first  the  great  party  of  the  Know-Nothings,  who 
plan  and  teach  with  no  opinion  whatsoever  as  to  the  ends  of 
their  teaching.  Under  the  conditions  of  human  nature  and 
current  financial  rewards  for  the  work,  this  party  is  in- 
evitably  large;   but  it  counts   for   nothing  except  inertia. 


The  Teaching  of  English  Composition     391 

There  is  next  the  respectable  and  efficient  cohort  of  the 
Do-Nothings,  who  believe  that  good  writing  and  speaking 
are  natural  emanations  from  culture,  as  health  from  exer- 
cise or  clouds  from  the  sea.  They  would  cultivate  the  mind 
of  the  undergraduate,  and  let  expression  take  care  of  it- 
self. They  do  not  believe  in  teaching  English  composition. 
Next  are  the  Formalists,  who  hold  up  a  dictionary  in  one 
hand,  the  rules  of  rhetoric  in  the  other,  and  say,  "  Learn 
these,  and  good  writing  and  good  speaking  shall  be  added 
unto  you."  The  Formalists  have  weakened  in  late  years. 
There  have  been  desertions  to  the  Do-Nothings,  for  the  work 
of  grinding  rules  into  unwilling  minds  is  hard,  and  it  is 
far  easier  to  adopt  a  policy  of  laissez-faire.  But  there  have 
been  far  more  desertions  into  a  party  which  I  shall  call, 
for  want  of  a  better  name,  the  Optimists.  The  Optimists 
believe  that  in  teaching  to  write  and  speak  the  American 
college  is  accepting  its  most  significant  if  not  its  greatest 
duty.  They  believe  that  we  must  understand  what  causes 
good  writing,  in  order  to  teach  it;  and  that  for  the  average 
undergraduate  writing   must   be   taught. 

The  best  way  to  approach  this  grand  battleground  of  Divergent 
educational  policies  is  by  the  very  practical  fashion  of  pre-  teaching  of 
tending  (if  pretense  is  necessary)  that  you  have  a  son  composition 
(or  a  daughter)  ready  for  college.  What  does  he  need, 
what  must  he  have  in  a  writing  way,  in  a  speaking  way, 
when  he  has  passed  through  all  the  education  you  see  fit  to 
give  him?  What  should  he  possess  of  such  ability  in  order 
to  satisfy  the  world  and  himself?  Facts,  ideas  and  imagina- 
tion, to  put  it  roughly,  make  up  the  substance  of  expres- 
sion. Facts  he  must  be  able  to  present  clearly  and  faith- 
fully; ideas  he  must  be  able  to  present  clearly  and  com- 
prehensively; his  imagination  he  will  need  to  express  when 
his  nature  demands  it.  And  for  all  these  needs  he  must 
be  able  to  use  knowingly  the  words  which  study  and  ex- 
perience will  feed  to  him.  He  must  be  able  to  combine 
these  words  effectively  in  order  to  express  the  thoughts 
of  which  he  is  capable.  And  these  thoughts  he  must  work 
out  along  lines  of  logical,  reasonable  developments,  so  that 


392  College  Teaching 

what  he  says  or  writes  will  have  an  end  and  attain  it. 
In  addition,  if  he  is  imaginative  —  and  who  is  not? — he 
should  know  the  color  and  fire  of  words,  the  power  of 
rhythm  and  harmony  over  the  emotions,  the  qualities  of 
speech  whose  secret  will  enable  him  to  mold  language 
to  his  personality  and  perhaps  achieve  a  style.  This  he 
should  know;  the  other  powers  he  must  have,  or  stop  short 
of  his  full  efficiency. 

Alas,  we  all  know  that  the  undergraduate,  in  the  mass, 
fails  often  to  attain  even  to  the  power  of  logical,  accurate 
statement,  whether  of  facts  or  ideas.  It  is  true  that  most 
of  the  charges  against  him  are  to  a  greater  or  less  degree 
irrelevant.  Weighty  indictments  of  his  powers  of  expres- 
sion are  based  upon  bad  spelling:  a  sign,  it  is  true,  of 
slovenliness,  an  indication  of  a  lack  of  thoroughness  which 
goes  deeper  than  the  misplacing  of  letters,  but  not  in  it- 
self a  proof  of  inability  to  express.  Great  writers  have 
often  misspelled;  and  the  letters  which  some  of  our  capable 
business  men  write  when  the  stenographer  fails  to  come 
back  after  lunch  are  by  no  means  impeccable.  Other  ac- 
cusations refer  to  a  childish  vagueness  of  expression  —  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  American  undergraduate  is  often  a  child 
intellectually  rather  than  to  any  defects  in  composition 
per  se.  But  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  deny  that  he  writes, 
if  not  badly,  at  least  not  so  clearly,  so  correctly,  so  in- 
telligently, as  we  expect.     The  question  is,  why? 

It  would  be  a  comfort  to  place  the  blame  upon  the 
schools;  and  indeed  they  must  take  some  blame,  not  only 
because  they  deserve  it,  but  also  to  enlighten  those  critics 
of  the  college  who  never  consider  the  kind  of  grain  which 
comes  into  our  hoppers.  The  readers  of  college  entrance 
papers  could  tell  a  mournful  story  of  how  the  candidates 
for  our  freshman  classes  write.  Here,  for  an  instance,  is  a 
paragraph  intended  to  prove  that  the  writer  had  a  com- 
mand of  simple  English,  correct  in  sentence  structure,  spell- 
ing, capitalization,  and  punctuation.  The  subject  is  "  The 
Value  of  Organized  Athletics  in  Schools  " —  not  an  abstruse 
one,  or  too  academic: 


The  Teaching  of  English  Composition     393 

If  fellows  are  out  in  the  open  and  take  athletics  say  at  a  certain 
time  every-day;  These  fellows  are  in  good  health  and  allert  in  their 
lessons,  while  those  who  take  no  exercise  are  logy  and  soft.  Organ- 
ized athletics  in  a  school  bring  the  former,  while  if  a  school  has  no 
athletics  every-thing  goes  more  or  less  slipshod,  and  the  fellows  are 
more  liable  to  get  into  trouble,  because  they  are  nervious  from  having 
nothing  to  do. 

This  is  a  little  below  the  average  of  the  papers  rejected 
for  entrance  to  college.  It  is  not  a  fair  sample  of  what 
the  schools  can  do,  but  it  is  a  very  fair  sample  of  what 
they  often  do  not  do.  It  was  not  written  by  a  foreigner, 
nor,  I  judge,  by  a  son  of  illiterate  parents,  since  it  came 
from  an  expensive  Eastern  preparatory  school.  The  reader, 
marking  with  some  heat  a  failure  for  the  essay  from  which 
this  paragraph  is  extracted,  would  not  complain  of  the 
writer's  paucity  of  ideas.  His  ideas  are  not  below  the 
average  of  his  age.  He  would  keep  his  wrath  for  the 
broken,  distorted  sentences,  the  silly  spelling,  the  lack 
(which  would  appear  in  the  whole  composition)  of  even  a 
rudimentary  construction  to  carry  the  thought.  Spelling, 
the  fundamentals  of  punctuation,  and  the  compacting  of  a 
sentence  must  be  taught  in  the  schools,  for  it  is  too  late  to 
cure  diseases  of  these  members  in  college.  They  can  be 
abated;  but  again  and  again  they  will  break  out.  It  is 
the  school's  business  to  teach  them;  and  the  weary  reader 
sees  in  this  unhappy  specimen  but  a  dark  and  definite 
manifestation  of  a  widespread  slovenliness  in  secondary 
education,  a  lack  of  thoroughness  which  appears  not  only  in 
the  failures,  but  also,  though  in  less  measure,  among  the 
better  writers,  whose  work  is  too  good  in  other  respects 
not  to  be  reluctantly  passed. 

Again,  it  would  be  easy  to  place  much  of  the  blame  for 
the  slipshod  writings  of  the  undergraduate  upon  the  stand- 
ards set  by  his  elders  outside  the  colleges.  Editors  can 
tell  of  the  endless  editing  which  contributions,  even  from 
writers  supposed  to  be  professional,  will  sometimes  re- 
quire. And  when  such  a  sentence  as  the  following  slips 
through,  and  begins  an  article  in  a  well-known,  highly  re- 


394 


College  Teaching 


Democratiz- 
ing educa- 
tion and  im- 
migration 
tbe  cause  of 
poor  quality 
of  expres- 
sion 


spectable  magazine,  we  can  only  say,  "  If  gold  rust,  what 
will  iron  do?  " 

Yes  the  Rot  —  and  with  a  very  big  R  —  in  sport:  for  that,  thanks  to 
an  overdone  and  too  belauded  a  Professionalism  by  a  large  section  of 
the  pandering  press,  is  what  it  has  got  to. 

Again,  any  business  man  could  produce  from  his  files 
a  collection  of  letters  full  of  phrasing  so  vague  and  incon- 
sequential that  only  his  business  instincts  and  knowledge 
of  the  situation  enable  him  to  interpret  it.  Any  lawyer 
could  give  numberless  instances  where  an  inability  to  write 
clear  and  simple  English  has  caused  litigation  without  end. 
Indeed,  the  bar  is  largely  supported  by  errors  in  English 
composition !  And  as  for  conversation  conducted  —  I  will 
not  say  with  pedantical  correctness,  for  that  is  not  an  ideal, 
but  with  accuracy  and  transparency  of  thought  —  listen  to 
the  talk  about  you! 

However,  it  is  the  business  of  the  colleges  to  improve 
all  that;  and  though  it  is  not  easy  to  develop  in  youth 
virtues  which  are  more  admired  than  practiced  by  maturity, 
let  us  assume  that  they  should  succeed  in  turning  out  writers 
of  satisfactory  ability,  even  with  these  handicaps,  and  look 
deeper  for  the  cause  of  their  relative  failure. 

The  chief  cause  of  the  prevalent  inadequacy  of  expres- 
sion among  our  undergraduates  is  patent,  and  its  effects 
are  by  no  means  limited  to  America,  as  complaints  from 
France  and  from  England  prove.  The  mob  —  the  many- 
headed,  the  many-mouthed,  figured  in  the  past  by  poets  as 
dumb,  or,  at  best,  an  incoherent  thing  of  brutish  noises 
signifying  speech  —  is  acquiring  education  and  learning 
how  to  express  it.  Hundreds  of  thousands  whose  an- 
cestors  never  read,  and  seldom  talked  except  of  the  simpler 
needs  of  life,  are.  doing  the  talking  and  the  writing  which 
their  large  share  in  the  transaction  of  the  world's  business 
demands.  Indeed,  democracy  requires  not  only  that  the 
illiterate  shall  learn  to  read  and  write  in  the  narrower 
sense  of  the  words,  but  also  that  the  relatively  literate  must 
seek  with  their  growing  intellectuality  a  more  perfect  power 


The  Teaching  of  English  Composition     395 

of  expression.  And  it  is  precisely  from  the  classes  only 
relatively  literate  —  those  for  whom  in  the  past  there  has 
been  no  opportunity,  and  no  need,  to  become  highly 
educated  —  that  the  bulk  of  our  college  students  today  are 
coming,  the  bulk  of  the  students  in  the  endowed  institutions 
of  the  East  as  well  as  in  the  newer  State  universities  of 
the  West.  The  typical  undergraduate  is  no  longer  the  son 
of  a  lawyer  or  a  clergyman,  with  an  intellectual  background 
behind  him. 

There  is  plenty  of  grumbling  among  college  faculties, 
and  in  certain  newspapers,  over  this  state  of  affairs.  In 
reality,  of  course,  it  is  the  opportunity  of  the  American 
colleges.  Let  the  motives  be  what  they  may,  the  simple 
fact  that  so  many  American  parents  wish  to  give  their 
children  more  education  than  they  themselves  were  blessed 
with  is  a  condition  so  favorable  for  those  who  believe 
that  in  the  long  run  only  intelligence  can  keep  our  civiliza- 
tion on  the  path  of  real  progress,  that  one  expects  to  hear 
congratulations  instead  of  wails  from  the  college  campuses. 

Nevertheless,  we  pay  for  our  opportunity,  and  we  must 
expect  to  pay.  The  thousands  of  intellectual  immigrants, 
ill-supplied  with  means  of  progress,  indefinite  of  aim,  un- 
aware of  their  opportunities,  who  land  every  September 
at  the  college  gates,  constitute  a  weighty  burden,  a  terrible 
responsibility.  And  the  burden  rests  upon  no  one  with 
more  crushing  weight  than  upon  the  unfortunate  teacher 
of  composition.  That  these  entering  immigrants  cannot 
write  well  is  a  symptom  of  their  mental  rawness.  It  is  to 
be  expected.  But  thanks  to  the  methods  of  slipshod,  am- 
bitious America,  the  schools  have  passed  them  on  still  shaky 
in  the  first  steps  of  accurate  writing  —  spelling,  punctua- 
tion, sentence  structure,  and  the  use  of  words.  Thanks  to 
the  failure  of  America  to  demand  thoroughness  in  anything 
but  athletics  and  business,  they  are  blind  to  the  need  of 
thoroughness  in  expression.  And  thanks  to  the  inescapable 
difficulty  of  accurate  writing,  they  resist  the  attempt  to  make 
them  thorough,  with  the  youthful  mind's  instinctive  re- 
bellion against  work.     Nevertheless,  whatever  the  cost,  they 


396 


College  Teaching 


Solutions 
proposed  by 
four  tjrpes 
of  instruct- 
ors 


must  learn  if  they  are  to  become  educated  in  any  practical 
and  efficient  sense;  the  immigrants  especially  must  learn, 
since  they  come  from  environments  where  accurate  expres. 
sion  has  not  been  practiced  —  often  has  not  been  needed  — 
and  go  to  a  future  where  it  will  be  required  of  them.  Not 
even  the  Do-Nothing  school  denies  the  necessity  that  the 
undergraduate  should  learn  to  write  well.     But  how? 

The  Know-Nothing  school  proposes  no  ultimate  solution 
and  knows  none,  unless  faithfully  teaching  what  they  are 
told  to  teach,  and  accepting  the  sweat  and  burden  of  the 
day,  with  few  of  its  rewards,  be  not  in  its  blind  way  a  better 
solution  than  to  dodge  the  responsibility  altogether. 

The  Formalists  labor  over  precept  and  principle  —  dis- 
ciplining, commanding,  threatening — feeling  more  grief 
over  one  letter  lost,  or  one  comma  mishandled,  than  joy 
over  the  most  spirited  of  incorrect  effusions.  They  turn 
out  sulky  youths  who  nevertheless  have  learned  some- 
thing. 

The  Do-Nothings  propose  a  solution  which  is  engaging, 
logical  —  and  insufficient.  They  are  the  philosophers  and 
the  aesthetes  among  teachers,  who  see,  what  the  Formalists 
miss,  that  he  who  thinks  well  will  in  the  long  run  write  as 
he  should.  Their  special  horror  is  of  the  compulsory 
theme,  extracted  from  unwilling  and  idealess  minds.  Their 
remedy  for  all  ills  of  speech  and  pen  is:  teach,  not  writ- 
ing and  speaking,  but  thinking;  give,  not  rules  and  prin- 
ciples, but  materials  for  thought.  And  above  all,  do  not 
force  college  students  to  study  composition.  The  Do- 
Nothing  school  has  almost  enough  truth  on  its  side  to  be 
right.  It  has  more  truth,  in  fact,  than  its  principles  per- 
mit it  to  make  use  of. 

The  umpire  in  this  contest  —  who  is  the  parent  with  a 
son  ready  for  college  —  should  note,  however,  two  pervad- 
ing fallacies  in  this  laissez-fflire  theory  of  writing  English. 
The  first  belongs  to  the  party  of  the  right  among  the  Do- 
Nothings  —  the  older  teachers  who  come  from  the  genera- 
tion which  sent  only  picked  men  to  college;  the  second, 
to  the  party  of  the  left  —  the  younger  men  who  are  dis- 


The  Teaching  of  English  Composition     397 

tressed  by  the  toil,  the  waste,  the  stupidity  which  accom- 
pany so  much  work  in  composition. 

The  older  men  attack  the  attempt  to  teach  the  making 
of  literature.  Their  hatred  of  the  cheap,  the  banal,  and  the 
false  in  literature  that  has  been  machine-made  by  men 
who  have  learned  to  express  -finely  what  is  not  worth  ex- 
pressing at  all,  leads  them  to  distrust  the  teaching  of  English 
composition.  They  condemn,  however,  a  method  of  teach- 
ing that  long  since  withered  under  their  scorn.  The  aim 
of  the  college  course  in  composition  today  is  not  the  mak- 
ing of  literature,  but  writing;  not  the  production  of 
imaginative  masterpieces,  but  the  orderly  arrangement  of 
thought  in  words.  Through  no  foresight  of  our  own,  but 
thanks  to  the  pressure  of  our  immigrants  upon  us,  we  have 
ceased  teaching  "  eloquence "  and  "  rhetoric,"  and  have 
taken  upon  ourselves  the  humbler  task  of  helping  the 
thinking  mind  to  find  words  and  a  form  of  expression 
as  quickly  and  as  easily  as  possible.  The  old  teacher  of 
rhetoric  aspired  to  make  Burkes,  Popes,  or  De  Quinceys. 
We  are  content  if  our  students  become  the  masters  rather 
than  the  servants  of  their  prose. 

The  party  of  the  left  presents  a  more  frontal  attack  upon 
the  teaching  of  the  writing  of  English.  Show  the  under- 
graduate how  to  think,  they  say;  fill  his  mind  with  knowl- 
edge, and  his  pen  will  find  the  way.  Ah,  but  there  is  the 
fallacy!  Why  not  help  him  to  find  the  way  —  as  in  Latin, 
or  surveying,  or  English  literature?  The  way  in  composi- 
tion can  be  taught,  as  in  these  other  subjects.  Writing, 
like  skating,  or  sailing  a  boat,  has  its  special  methods,  its 
special  technique,  even  as  it  has  its  special  medium,  words, 
and  the  larger  unities  of  expression.  The  laws  which 
govern  it  are  simple.  They  are  always  in  intimate  con- 
nection with  the  thought  behind,  and  worthless  without  it; 
but  they  can  be  taught.  Ask  any  effective  teacher  of  com- 
position to  show  you  what  he  has  done  time  and  again 
for  the  freshman  whose  sprawling  thought  he  has  helped 
to  form  into  coherent  and  unified  expression.  And  do  not 
be  deceived  by  analogies  drawn  from  our  colleges  of  the 


398  College  Teaching 

mid-nineteenth  century,  where  composition  was  not  taught, 
and  men  wrote  well;  or  from  the  English  universities,  where 
the  same  conditions  are  said  (with  dissenting  voices)  to 
exist.  In  the  first  place,  they  had  no  immigrant  problem 
in  the  mid-century,  nor  have  they  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge. 
In  the  second,  the  rigorous  translation  back  and  forward 
between  the  classics  and  the  mother  tongue,  now  obsolete 
in  America,  but  still  a  requisite  for  an  English  university 
training,  provides  a  drill  in  accuracy  of  language  whose 
efficiency  is  not  to  be  despised. 

The  student  must  express  his  intellectual  gains  even  as 
he  absorbs  them,  or  the  crystallization  of  knowledge  into 
personal  thought  will  be  checked  at  the  beginning.  The 
boy  must  be  able  to  say  what  he  knows,  or  write  what  he 
knows,  or  he  does  not  know  it.  And  it  is  as  important 
to  help  him  express  as  to  help  him  absorb.  The  teachers 
in  other  departments  must  aid  in  this  task  or  we  fail;  but 
where  the  whole  duty  of  making  expression  keep  pace  with 
thought  and  with  life  is  given  to  them,  they  will  be  forced 
either  to  overload,  or  to  neglect  all  but  the  little  arcs  that 
bound  their  subjects.  And  since  they  are  specialists  in 
other  fields,  and  so  may  neglect  that  technique  of  writing 
which  in  itself  is  a  special  study,  their  task,  when  they  ac- 
cept it,  is  hard,  and  their  labor,  when  it  is  forced  upon 
ihem,  too  often  ineffective.  Composition  must  be  taught 
where  college  education  proceeds  —  that  is  the  truth  of  the 
matter;  and  if  not  taught  directly,  then  indirectly,  with  pain 
and  with  waste. 

The  school  of  the  Optimists  approaches  this  question  of 
writing  English  with  self-criticism  and  with  a  full  realiza- 
tion of  the  difficulties,  and  of  the  tentative  nature  of  the 
methods  now  in  use,  but  with  confidence  as  to  the  possibility 
of  ultimate  success.  In  order  to  be  an  Optimist  in  com- 
position you  must  have  some  stirrings  of  democracy  in  your 
veins.  You  must  be  interested  in  the  need  of  the  average 
man  to  shape  his  writing  into  a  useful  tool  that  will  setve 
his  purposes,  whether  in  the  ministry  or  the  soap  business. 
This  is  the  utilitarian  end  of  writing  English.     And  you 


The  Teaching  of  English  Composition     399 

must  be  interested  in  developing  his  powers  of  self-expres- 
sion, even  when  convinced  that  no  great  soul  is  longing  for 
utterance,  but  only  a  commonplace  human  mind  —  like 
your  own  —  that  will  be  eased  by  powers  of  writing  and  of 
speech.  It  is  here  that  composition  is  of  service  to  the 
imagination,  and  incidentally  to  culture;  and  I  should  speak 
more  largely  of  this  service  if  there  were  space  in  this 
chapter  to  bring  forward  all  the  aspects  of  college  com- 
position. It  is  the  personal  end  of  writing  English.  If 
the  average  man  turns  out  to  be  a  superman  with  mighty 
purposes  ahead,  or  if  he  has  a  great  soul  seeking  utter- 
ance, he  will  have  far  less  need  of  your  assistance;  but  you 
can  aid  him,  nevertheless,  and  your  aid  will  count  as  never 
before,  and  will  be  your  greatest  personal  reward,  though 
no  greater  service  to  the  community  than  the  countless 
hours  spent  upon  the  minds  of  the  multitude. 

In  order  to  be  an  Optimist  it  is  still  more  important  to 
understand  that  writing  English  well  depends   first  upon 
intellectual   grasp,   and   second   upon   technical   skill,   and 
always  upon  both.     As  for  the  first,  your  boy,  if  you  are 
the  parent  of  an  undergraduate,  is  undergoing  a  curious  ex- 
perience in  college.     Against  his  head  a  dozen  teachers  are 
discharging  round  after  round  of  information.     Sometimes 
they  miss;  sometimes  the  shots  glance  off;  sometimes  the 
charge  sinks  in.     And  his  brain  is  undergoing  less  obvious 
assaults.     He  is  like  the  core  of  soft  iron  in  an  electro-mag 
net  upon  which  invisible  influences  are  constantly  beating 
His  teachers  are  harassing  his  mind  with  methods  of  think 
ing:  the  historical  method;  the  experimental  method  of  sci 
ence;    the    interpretative    method    of    literature.     Unfortu 
nately,  the  charges  of  information  too  often  lodge  higgledy 
piggledy,  like  bird-shot  in  a  signboard;  and  the  waves  of  in 
fluence  make  an  impression  which  is  too  often  incoherent  anci 
confused.     If  the  historians  really  taught  the  youth  to  think 
historically  from  the  beginning,  and  the  scientists  really 
taught  him  to  think  scientifically  from  the  beginning,  and 
he  could  apply  his  new  methods  of  thought  to  the  expres- 
sion of  his  own  emotions,  experiences,  life,  then  the  teacher 


400 


College  Teaching 


How  teach 
college  stu- 
dents the 
art  of  self- 
expression? 


of  composition  might  confine  himself  to  the  second  of  his 
duties,  and  teach  only  that  technique  which  makes  writing 
to  uncoil  itself  as  easily  and  as  vividly  as  a  necklace  of 
matched  and  harmonious  stones.  In  the  University  of 
Utopia  we  shall  leave  the  organization  of  thought  to  the 
other  departments,  and  have  plenty  left  to  do;  but  we  are 
not  yet  in  Utopia. 

At  present,  the  teacher  of  composition  stands  like  a 
sentry  at  the  gates  of  knowledge,  challenging  all  who  come 
out  speaking  random  words  and  thoughts;  asking,  "  Have 
you  thought  it  out?  "  "  Have  you  thought  it  out  clearly?  " 
"  Can  you  put  your  conclusions  into  adequate  words?  " 
And  if  the  answers  are  unsatisfactory,  he  must  proceed  to 
teach  that  orderly,  logical  development  of  thought  from 
cause  to  effect  which  underlies  all  provinces  of  knowledge, 
and  reaches  well  into  the  unmapped  territories  of  the 
imagination.  But  even  in  Utopia  composition  must  remain 
the  testing  ground  of  education,  though  we  shall  hope  for 
more  satisfactory  answers  to  our  challenges.  And  even  in 
Utopia,  where  the  undergraduate  perfects  his  thinking 
while  acquiring  his  facts,  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher 
of  writing  to  help  him  to  apply  his  intellectual  powers  to 
his  experiences,  his  emotions,  his  imagination,  in  short,  to 
self-expression.  And  there  will  still  remain  the  technique 
of  writing. 

Theoretically,  when  the  undergraduate  has  assembled  his 
thoughts  he  is  ready  and  competent  to  write  them,  but  prac- 
tically he  is  neither  entirely  ready  nor  usually  entirely  com- 
petent. It  is  one  thing  to  assemble  an  automobile;  it  is 
another  thing  to  run  it.  The  technique  of  writing  is  not 
nearly  as  interesting  as  the  subject  and  the  thought  of  writ- 
ing; just  as  the  method  of  riding  a  horse  is  not  nearly  as 
interesting  as  the  ride  itself.  And  yet  when  you  consider 
it  as  a  means  to  an  end,  as  a  subtle,  elastic,  and  infinitely 
useful  craft,  the  method  of  writing  is  not  uninterestirjg  even 
to  those  who  have  to  learn  and  not  to  teach  it.  The  tech- 
nique of  composition  has  to  do  with  words.  We  are  most 
of  us  inapt  with  words;   even  when  ideas  begin  to  come 


The  Teaching  of  English  Composition     401 

plentifully  they  too  often  remain  vague,  shapeless,  ineffec- 
tive, for  want  of  words  to  name  them.  And  words  can  be 
taught  —  not  merely  the  words  themselves,  but  their  power, 
their  suggest iveness,  their  rightness  or  wrongness  for  the 
meaning  sought.  The  technique  of  writing  has  to  do  with 
sentences.  Good  thinking  makes  good  sentences,  but  the 
sentence  must  be  flexible  if  it  is  to  ease  the  thought.  We 
can  learn  its  elasticity,  we  can  practice  the  flow  of  clauses, 
until  the  wooden  declaration  which  leaves  half  unexpressed 
gives  place  to  a  fluent  and  accurate  transcript  of  the  mind, 
form  fitting  substance  as  the  vase  the  water  within  it.  This 
technique  has  to  do  with  paragraphs.  The  critic  knows  how 
few  even  among  our  professional  writers  master  their  para- 
graphs. It  is  not  a  dead,  fixed  form  that  is  to  be  sought. 
It  is  rather  a  flexible  development,  which  grows  beneath 
the  reader's  eye  until  the  thought  is  opened  with  vigor 
and  with  truth.  It  is  interesting  to  search  in  the  para- 
graph of  an  ineffective  editorial,  an  article,  or  theme,  for  the 
sentence  that  embodies  the  thought;  to  find  it  dropped 
like  a  turkey's  egg  where  the  first  opportunity  offers,  or 
hidden  by  the  rank  growth  of  comment  and  reflection  about 
it.  Such  research  is  illuminating  for  those  who  do  not 
believe  in  the  teaching  of  composition;  and  if  it  begins  at 
home,  so  much  the  better.  And  finally,  the  technique  of 
writing  has  to  do  with  the  whole,  whether  sonnet,  or  business 
letter,  or  report  to  a  board  of  directors.  How  to  lead  one 
thought  into  another;  how  to  exclude  the  irrelevant;  how 
to  weigh  upon  that  which  is  important;  how  to  hold  to- 
gether the  whole  structure  so  that  the  subject,  all  the  sub- 
ject, and  nothing  but  the  subject  shall  be  laid  before  the 
reader:  this  requires  good  thinking,  but  good  thinking  with- 
out technical  skill  is  like  a  strong  arm  in  tennis  without 
facility  in  the  strokes. 

The  program  I  have  outlined  is  simpler  in  theory  than 
in  practice.  In  practice,  it  is  easier  to  discover  the  dis- 
order than  the  thought  which  it  confuses;  in  practice,  tech- 
nical skill  must  be  forced  upon  undergraduates  unaccus- 
tomed to  thoroughness,  in  a  country  that  in  no  department 


402  College  Teaching 

of  life,  except  perhaps  business,  has  hitherto  been  com- 
pelled to  value  technique.  Even  the  optimist  grows  pessi- 
mistic sometimes  in  teaching  composition. 

And  yet  in  the  teaching  of  English  the  results  are  per- 
haps more  evident  than  elsewhere  in  the  whole  range  of  col- 
lege work.  It  is  wonderful  to  see  what  can  be  accom- 
plished by  an  enthusiast  in  the  sport  of  transmuting  brains 
into  words.  When  the  teacher  seeks  for  his  material  in  the 
active  interests  of  the  student  —  whether  athletics  or  engi- 
neering or  literature  or  catching  trout  —  when  he  stirs  up 
the  finer  interests,  drawing  off,  as  it  were,  the  cream  into 
words,  the  results  are  convincing.  Writing  is  one  of  the 
most  fascinating,  most  engaging  of  pursuits  for  the  man 
with  a  craving  to  grasp  the  reality  about  him  and  name  it 
in  words.  And  even  for  the  undergraduate,  whose  imagina- 
tion is  just  developing,  and  whose  brain  protests  against 
logical  thought,  it  can  be  made  as  interesting  as  it  is  use- 
ful. 

The  teaching  of  English  composition  in  this  country  is  a 
vast  industry  in  which  thousands  of  workmen  are  employed 
and  in  which  a  million  or  so  of  young  minds  are  invested. 
I  do  not  wish  to  take  it  too  seriously.  There  are  many 
accomplishments  more  important  for  the  welfare  of  the 
race.  And  yet,  if  it  be  true  that  maturity  of  intellect  is 
never  attained  without  that  clearness  and  accuracy  of  think- 
ing which  can  be  made  to  show  itself  in  good  writing,  then 
the  failure  of  the  undergraduate  to  write  well  is  serious,  and 
the  struggle  to  make  him  write  better  worthy  of  the  atten- 
tion of  those  who  have  children  to  be  educated.  I  do  not 
think  that  success  in  this  struggle  will  come  through  the 
policy  of  laissez-faire.  All  undergraduates  profit  by  organ- 
ized help  in  their  writing;  many  require  it.  I  do  not 
think  that  success  will  come  by  a  pedantical  insistence  upon 
correctness  in  form  without  regard  to  the  sense.  Squeezing 
unwilling  words  from  indifferent  minds  may  be  discipline; 
it  certainly  is  not  teaching.  I  think  that  success  will  come 
only  to  the  teacher  who  is  a  middleman  between  thought  and 
expression,  valuing  both.     When  we  succeed  in  making  the 


The  Teaching  of  English  Composition     403 

bulk  of  the  undergraduates  really  think;  when  we  can  in- 
spire them  with  a  modicum  of  that  passion  for  truth  in 
words  which  is  the  moving  force  of  the  good  writer;  when 
the  schools  help  us  and  the  outside  world  demands  and 
supports  efficiency  in  diction;  then  we  shall  carry  through 
the  program  of  the  Optimists. 

Henry  Seidel  Canby 

Yale  University 


XX 


Significance 
of  recent 
criticisms 
of  the 
teaching  of 
the  classics 


THE  TEACHING  OF  THE  CLASSICS 

METHODS  of  teaching  are  determined  to  a  large  ex- 
tent by  appreciation  of  the  objects  to  be  attained. 
If  teachers  make  clear  to  themselves  just  what  they  wish  to 
accomplish,  they  will  more  easily  develop  the  means.  The 
storm  of  objection  now  rising  against  the  study  of  the 
Classics  indicates  clearly  that  there  is  a  general  dissatis- 
faction with  the  result  of  this  study.  There  is  a  striking 
unanimity  on  this  subject  among  persons  of  widely  different 
talent  and  experience,  of  whom  some  are  still  students, 
while  others  are  looking  back  upon  their  training  in  school 
and  college  after  years  of  mature  life.  Their  adverse  criti- 
cism is  all  the  more  significant  because  often  expressed  with 
obvious  regret.  Some,  who  have  had  unusual  opportunities 
for  observation,  state  their  opinion  in  no  uncertain  lan- 
guage. For  example,  Mr.  Abraham  Flexner,  in  his  pam- 
phlet "A  Modern  School,"  on  page  18  says:  "Neither 
Latin  nor  Greek  would  be  contained  in  the  curriculum  of 
the  Modern  School  —  not,  of  course,  because  their  liter- 
atures are  less  wonderful  than  they  are  reputed  to  be,  but 
because  their  present  position  in  the  curriculum  rests  upon 
tradition  and  assumption.  A  positive  case  can  be  made 
out  for  neither."  The  president  of  Columbia  University,  in 
his  Annual  Report  for  1915-1916,  page  15,  speaking  of  the 
"  teachers  of  the  ancient  classics,"  says:  "  They  have  here- 
tofore been  all  too  successful  in  concealing  from  their  pupils 
the  real  significance  and  importance  of  Greek  and  Latin 
studies."  Such  criticisms,  however,  do  not  prove  that  the 
study  of  the  Classics  cannot  accomplish  all  that  its  advo- 
cates claim  for  it,  but  only  that  it  is  not  now  accomplishing 
satisfactory  results. 

Undoubtedly  there  are  various  causes  for  a  depreciation 
of   classical   studies  at  the   present  time.     Other   subjects, 

404 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  405 

such  as  mathematics,  are  suffering  from  a  similar  disparage- 
ment.    In  recent  years  interest  has  centered  more  and  more 
in  studies  designed  to  develop  powers  of  observation,  give 
knowledge  of  certain  facts,  or  provide  equipment  for  some 
particular  vocation,  to  the  neglect  of  those  which  discipline 
the  mind  or  impart  a  general  culture.     It  is  certainly  im- 
portant, therefore,    to  consider  the  relative  values  of  these 
various  studies.     To  do  so  it  is  desirable  to  examine  the 
aims  of  classical  teaching  and  the  methods  by  which  these 
aims  may  be  realized;  for  it  is  at  least  possible  that  the 
widespread   dissatisfaction   with   this   teaching   is   due   not 
so  much  to  the  subject  itself  as  to  defects  and  insufficiency 
in  the  methods  employed. 
.  Not  all  teachers  of  the  Classics  agree  in  all  respects  as   The  present 
to  the  aims  ot  their  teaching.     Certain  aims,  however,  are    classical 
common  to  all  the  classical  departments  in  American  col-   *«*<=hiiig 
leges.     These  are: 

1.  To  train  students,  through  the  acquisition  and  use  of 
the  ancient  languages,  in  memory,  accuracy,  analysis  and 
logic,  clearness  and  fluency  of  expression,  and  style. 

2.  To  enable  certain  students  to  read  with  profit  and  en- 
joyment the  masterpieces  of  Greek  and  Latin  literature. 

3.  To  impart  to  certain  students  a  knowledge,  as  com- 
plete as  possible,  of  the  classical  civilization  as  a  whole. 
To  a  complete  knowledge  of  this  civilization  belongs  all 
that  the  ancients  possessed  or  did,  all  that  they  thought  or 
wrote,  whether  or  not  any  particular  part  of  it  had  an 
influence  upon  later  times  or  is,  in  itself,  interesting  or 
valuable  now.  All  parts  alike  are  phenomena  of  the  life 
of  these  ancient  peoples  and  so  of  the  life  of  the  human 
race. 

4.  To  impart  a  knowledge  and  understanding  of  the 
thoughts  and  ideas,  the  forms  of  expression,  the  institu- 
tions, and  the  experiences  of  the  ancients,  in  so  far  as  these 
are  either  actually  valuable  in  themselves  to  the  modem 
world  or  have  influenced  the  development  of  modern  civili- 
zation. 

Besides  these  aims  which  are  common  to  all,  there  are 


406  College  Teaching 

certain  others  less  generally  pursued  by  classical  teachers 
in  this  country.     Among  these  are: 

5.  To  make  students  familiar  with  "the  Greek  (and 
Latin)  in  English,"  i.e.  with  the  etymology  and  history  of 
words  in  our  own  language  which  had  their  origin  in  or 
through  Greek  or  Latin.^ 

6.  To  trace  the  influences  of  the  classic  literature  upon 
modern  literature  and  thought.- 

7.  To  train  those  who  expect  to  teach  the  Classics  in 
pedagogical  methods,  and  to  familiarize  them  with  modern 
pedagogical  appliances.^ 

8.  To  teach  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  and  of  the 
Church  Fathers.* 

The  classical  departments  of  some  colleges  also  give 
courses  in  Modem  Greek  ^ :  such  courses,  however,  belong 
properly  to  the  field  of  Modern  Languages. 

Now  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  all  of  these  aims 
properly  concern  all  classes  of  students.  On  the  contrary, 
every  one  would  doubtless  agree  that  those  described  under 
Nos.  7  and  8  do  not  concern  the  average  student  of  the 
Classics.  It  is  also  a  debatable  question  whether  it  should 
be  the  aim  of  classical  teaching  to  give  all  classical  students 
some  knowledge  of  the  classic  civilization  as  a  whole; 
whether,  for  example,  Aristophanes  and  Plautus,  however 
important  these  authors  may  be  for  a  complete  understand- 
ing of  the  ancient  life  and  literature,  are  worth  while  for  all 
classical   students  alike.     It  is  far  more   important,  how- 

^  For  example,  at  the  University  of  Kansas. 

2  Leiand  Stanford,  Michigan,  Princeton. 

3  California,  North  Dakota,  Harvard,  Idaho,  Illinois,  Kansas.  Leiand 
Stanford,  Michigan,  Oberlin.  Olterbein,  Pennsylvania,  Vermont, 
Wisconsin,  Yale,  etc.  Some  of  these  courses  are  offered  only  to 
graduate  students,  and  some  are  given  by  the  Departments  of  Peda- 
gogics. 

■*  In  New  Testament  or  Patristic  Greek  at  Austin.  Bucknell.  Cali- 
fornia, Cornell,  Harvard,  Illinois,  Lafayette,  Michigan,  Millsaps, 
Trinity,  Wesleyan.     In  Patristic  Latin,  Bucknell  and  elsewhere. 

•'  Brown,  Cornell,  Leiand  Stanford. 
N.  B.    These  lists  are  by  no  means  complete. 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  407 

ever,  to  determine  whether,  in  that  which  seems  to  many 
persons  the  chief  business  of  a  classical  department,  all  who 
study  the  masterpieces  of  the  ancient  literatures  should  be 
taught  to  study  them  in  the  original  language. 

No  one  doubts  that  classical  departments  should  provide  J^^^}^^ 
courses  on  the  ancient  literature  in  the  original,  or  that  the  originals 
aesthetic  qualities  of  a  literature  can  be  fully  appreciated  °°^^ 
only  in  the  original  language.  Some  people,  however,  main- 
tain that  every  literary  production  is  primarily  a  work 
of  art,  and  consequently  that  its  aesthetic  qualities  are  its 
most  essential  qualities:  that  to  teach  the  classical  liter- 
ature through  the  medium  of  translations  would  be  aiming 
at  an  imperfect  appreciation  of  its  most  essential  qualities, 
and  would  also  divert  students  from  the  study  of  its 
original  form.  Yet  in  most  colleges  courses  on  painting  and 
sculpture  are  given  through  the  medium  of  photographs, 
casts  and  copies,  and  no  one  questions  the  value  and  effec- 
tiveness of  such  courses,  or  doubts  that  they  tend  to  in- 
crease the  desire  of  the  students  to  know  the  originals 
themselves.  Similarly  courses  on  Greek  literature  in 
translations  are  given  at  many  American  colleges,  for  ex- 
ample at  Bucknell,  California,  Colorado,  Harvard,^  Idaho, 
Illinois,  Kansas,  Lafayette,  Leland  Stanford,  Michigan, 
Missouri,  New  York  University,  North  Dakota,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Syracuse,  Tennessee,  Vermont,  Washington  University, 
Wesleyan,  and  Wisconsin:  courses  in  Latin  literature  in 
translations  at  California,  Colorado,  Kansas,  Leland  Stan- 
ford, Pennsylvania,  Tennessee,  and  Washington  University. 
Besides  these  there  are  courses  at  some  colleges  on  Greek 
or  Roman  Life  and  Thought,-  or  Life  and  Letters,^  or 
Civilization,*  most  of  which  do  not  involve  the  use  of  the 

^  History  of  Greek  Tragedy.  Lectures  with  reading  and  study  of  the 
plays  of  TEschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides.  Requires  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  Greek  language. 

2  E.  g.,  Columbia.  Lafayette. 

5  California,  Washington  I'niversity. 

*  Colorado,  Idaho,  Syracuse,  Vermont,  Washington  University,  Wes- 
leyan, Wisconsin. 


408 


College  Teaching 


Teaching 
only  from 
classical 
texts 


ancient  languages  on  the  part  of  the  students.  For  ex- 
ample, at  Brown  courses  which  require  no  knowledge  of  the 
ancient  languages  are  given  in  both  Greek  and  Roman 
"  Civilization  as  Illustrated  by  the  Literature,  History  and 
Monuments  of  Art."  ^  Harvard  also  offers  courses  en- 
titled "  A  Survey  of  Greek  Civilization "  and  "  A  Sur- 
vey of  Roman  Civilization,  Illustrated  from  the  Monuments 
and  Literature,"  in  which  a  knowledge  of  the  ancient  lan- 
guages is  not  required. 

In  deciding  the  question  here  at  issue  it  is  essential 
to  distinguish  between  the  different  kinds  of  literature. 
The  value  of  certain  literary  productions  undoubtedly  con- 
sists chiefly  in  the  aesthetic  qualities  of  their  form;  that 
is,  the  excellence  and  influence  of  these  productions  depends 
upon  the  particular  language  actually  used  by  the  author. 
Such  works  of  literature  lose  very  much  in  translation, 
and  it  may  be  asserted  with  some  reason  that  they  lose 
their  most  essential  qualities.  It  may  well  be  doubted, 
therefore,  whether  any  one  can  derive  great  pleasure  or 
benefit  from  the  study  of  the  poems  of  Sappho  or  the  odes 
of  Horace,  for  example,  unless  these  are  studied  in  the 
original.  The  value  of  other  literary  productions,  on  the 
other  hand,  lies  partly  in  their  form  and  partly  in  their  con- 
tent, or  in  their  content  alone.  It  is  quite  a  different  ques- 
tion, therefore,  whether  one  may  derive  a  satisfactory 
pleasure  and  benefit  from  a  translation  of  the  Agamemnon 
of  i^schylus  or  Thucydides'  //isfory  of  the  Peloponnesian 
War,  of  Lucretius  or  Tacitus,  to  say  nothing  of  such  books 
as  Aristotle's  Constitution  of  Athens. 

There  is  another  and  still  more  important  question  con- 
nected with  the  theory  of  classical  teaching,  namely  whether 
all  classical  courses  should  be  based  upon  or  begin  with 
the  study  of  some  classical  text.  Some  are  of  the  opinion 
that  it  is  the  business  of  classical  teachers  to  teach  the 
Greek  and  Latin   languages,   and   the  literatures   in   these 

'  It  should  be  noted  that  at  Brown  the  titles  of  the  classical  depart- 
ments are  "  The  Department  of  Greek  Literature  and  History  "  and 
"  The  Department  of  Roman  Literature  and  History." 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  409 

languages,  and  that  anything  which  cannot  be  taught  best 
through  the  study  of  some  portion  of  the  classical  litera- 
ture in  the  original  should  be  taught  by  some  other  depart- 
ment of  the  college.  Consequently  in  some  institutions 
courses  on  ancient  literature  in  English  translations  are 
given  by  the  English  Department,^  courses  on  Greek  and 
Roman  History,  Archaeology,  and  Philosophy  by  the  De- 
partments of  History,  Archaeology,  and  Philosophy,  respec- 
tively, courses  on  the  Methods  and  Equipment  of  Teaching 
the  Classics  by  the  Department  of  Pedagogy. 

Others,  less  extreme  in  their  views,  hold  (a)  that  any 
study  of  the  Greek  or  Roman  civilization  apart  from  the 
original  ancient  literature  would  be  vague,  discoursive,  and 
unprofitable,  and  in  particular  that  a  discussion  of  a  litera- 
ture or  of  literary  forms  without  an  immediate,  personal 
acquaintance  with  this  literature  or  these  literary  forms  in 
the  original  would  not  be  useful,  and  (6)  that  such  courses 
would  have  little  permanent  value  for  the  students  because 
it  would  not  be  possible  to  compel  the  students  to  make 
much  effort  for  themselves. 

Quite  the  opposite  opinion  on  this  most  important  ques- 
tion is  held  by  those  who  believe  (a)  that  the  study  of 
the  Classics  should  not  be  confined  to  those  who  are  now 
able,  or  may  in  the  future  be  expected,  to  read  the  ancient 
literature  in  the  original,  (b)  that  there  are. some  things  even 
about  the  ancient  literature  and  civilization  which  can  be 
taught  more  effectively  without  the  loss  of  time  and  the  di- 
vision of  attention  involved  in  reading  the  ancient  authors 
in  the  original,  and  (c)  that  in  courses  such  as  those  deal- 
ing with  ancient  history  ancient  books  on  these  subjects, 
either  in  the  original  or  in  translations,  cannot  properly  be 
used  as  textbooks  for  the  reason  that,  quite  apart  from 
their  errors  and  misconceptions,  these  books  do  not  con- 
tain, except  incidentally,  those  phases  of  the  ancient  life 
which  are  the  most  interesting  and  valuable  to  the  modern 
world.  Such  persons  consider  that  the  attempt  to  convey 
an  appreciation  of  the  ancient  literature  through  those  lim- 

1  At  Cornell  and  Oberlin,  for  example. 


410 


College  Teaching 


Courses  in 
the  ancient 
languages 


ited  portions  of  it  which  can  be  read  by  the  students  in 
the  original  is  necessarily  ineffective.  They  hold  that  to 
appreciate  any  literature  one  must  study  it  as  literature, — 
i.e.,  as  English  literature  should  be  studied  by  English  stu- 
dents, French  literature  by  French  students, —  and  that  lit- 
erary study  of  this  sort  properly  begins  where  translation 
and  exegesis  leave  off.  And  finally,  they  maintain  that  the 
effort  to  give  students  a  lively  knowledge  of  ancient  life  or 
ancient  history  through  the  ancient  texts  is  precisely  like  the 
effort  to  illustrate  ancient  life  by  ancient  works  of  art;  e.g., 
to  give  a  student  an  idea  of  an  ancient  soldier  by  showing 
him  an  ancient  picture  of  a  soldier.  Such  illustrations  con- 
vey instead  the  impression  that  ancient  life  was  both  un- 
attractive and  unreal,  that  the  study  of  it  is  childish  and 
unpractical,^ 

Many  classical  courses  are  designed  primarily  to  teach 
the  classical  languages  themselves,  or  to  give  mental  train- 
ing through  the  study  and  use  of  these  languages.  Until 
recently  most  American  colleges  required  for  admission  an 
elementary  knowledge  of  these  languages  involving  com- 
monly at  least  three  years  of  preparatory  training  in  Greek 
and  from  three  to  five  years  of  preparatory  Latin.  Now, 
however,  many  colleges  provide  courses  for  beginners  in 
Greek,  some  also  for  beginners  in  Latin.  For  example, 
courses  for  beginners  in  Greek  are  given  at  Bryn  Mawr, 
University  of  California,  Chicago,  Colorado,  Columbia, 
University  of  North  Dakota,  Dartmouth,  Harvard,  Idaho. 
Illinois,  Johns  Hopkins,  Kansas,  Lafayette,  Leland  Stanford, 
Michigan,  New  York  University,  Northwestern,  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  University  of  Tennessee,  Vanderbilt, 
Vermont,  Washington  University,  Wesleyan,  Williams,  Wis- 
consin, Yale,  and  elsewhere.  Courses  for  beginners  in 
Latin  are  given,  for  example,  at  the  Universities  of  Idaho, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Wisconsin.  Ordinarily  these  courses 
resemble  in  general  plan  and  method  the  corresponding 
courses  in  secondary  schools;  but  inasmuch  as  the  students 
are  more  mature,  the  progress  is  much  more  rapid. 

'  See  especially  Clarence  P.  Bill.  '"  The  Business  of  a  College  Greek 
Department,"  Classical  Journal,  IX  (1913-14),  pp.  111-121. 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  411 

In  some  institutions  the  attempt  is  made  in  teaching  J}^^ 
ancient  Greek  and  Latin  to  employ  methods  used  by  the  Method" 
teachers  of  modern  languages.  Some  classical  teachers  have 
even  adopted  to  some  extent  the  so-called  "  natural  "  or 
"  direct  "  method  of  language  teaching  ^ :  commonly  such 
attempts  have  not  been  very  successful,  and  where  some 
degree  of  success  has  been  attained  the  success  seems 
due  to  the  personality  and  enthusiasm  of  the  individual 
teacher.  Others  have  contented  themselves  with  devot- 
ing a  part  of  certain  courses  to  exercises  designed 
to  show  the  students  that  the  classical  languages  were 
at  one  time  in  daily  use  among  living  people  and  were 
the  media  of  ordinary  conversation.^  Students  in  such 
courses  commonly  memorize  certain  colloquial  phrases 
and  take  part  in  simple  conversations  in  which  these 
phrases  can  be  used.  Such  methods,  skillfully  employed, 
undoubtedly  relieve  the  tedium  of  the  familiar  drill  in 
grammar  and  "  prose  composition,"  and  may  help  materi- 
ally in  imparting  both  a  knowledge  of  the  ancient  lan- 
guages and  a  facility  in  reading  the  ancient  authors. 

An  interesting  experiment  is  now  being  tried  at  the 
University  of  California  in  a  course  in  Greek  for  beginners, 
given  by  Professor  James  T.  Allen.  The  description  of  the 
course  in  the  university  catalogue  is  as  follows:  "An  In- 
troduction to  the  Greek  Language  based  upon  graded  selec- 
tions from  the  works  of  Menander,  Euclid,  Aristophanes, 
Plato,  Herodotus,  and  the  New  Testament.  The  method  of 
presentation  emphasizes  the  living  phrase,  and  has  as  its 
chief  object  the  acquiring  of  reading  power.  Mastery  of 
essential  forms;  memorizing  of  quotations;  practice  in  read- 
ing at  sight."     This  course  has  had  considerable  success. 

^  See  the  article  by  Mr.  Theodosius  S.  Tyng  in  Classical  Weekly,  VIII 
(1915),  Nos.  24  and  25.     Also  M.  J.  Russell:    "  The  Direct  Method 
of  Teaching  Latin,"  in  the  Classical  Journal,  XII  (1916),  pages  209 
211,  and  other  articles  on  this  subject  in  the  Classical  Journal  and 
the  Classical  Weekly  in  recent  years. 

2  For  example,  "Latin  Conversation,"  at  Columbia;  "Oral  Latin,"  at 
Leland  Stanford ;  "  Sight  Reading  and  Latin  Speaicing,"  at  New 
York  University. 


412 


College  Teaching 


Use  of 
modern 
literature 
in  ancient 
Greek  or 
Latin 


More  than  three  hundred  students  have  been  enrolled  thus 
far  in  a  period  of  six  or  seven  ye^rs,  and  some  of  these  have 
testified  that  it  was  one  of  the  most  valuable  courses  they 
have  had  in  any  subject.  One  of  the  chief  advantages 
has  been  that  the  students,  while  learning  forms  and  vo- 
cabulary, are  reading  some  real  Greek,  and  that  of  first- 
rate  quality.^ 

Various  attempts  have  been  made,  especially  in  recent 
years,  to  provide  for  classical  students  modern  stories 
in  ancient  Latin,  in  the  belief  that  modern  students  will 
acquire  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  language  more  readily 
from  such  textbooks  than  from  any  parts  of  the  ancient 
literature.-  The  story  of  Robinson  Crusoe  was  translated 
into  Latin  by  G.  F.  Goffeaux,  and  this  version  has  been 
edited  and  republished  by  Dr.  Arcadius  Avellanus,  Phila- 
delphia, 1900  (173  pages).  An  abridgement  of  the  orig- 
inal edition  was  edited  by  P.  A.  Barnett,  under  the  title 
The  Story  of  Robinson  Crusoe  in  Latin,  adapted  from 
Defoe  by  Goffeaux,  Longmans,  Green  and  Co.,  1907. 
Among  original  compositions  in  ancient  Latin  for  students 
may  be  mentioned  (1)  Ritchie's  Fabulae  Faciles,  A  First 
Latin  Reader,  edited  by  John  Copeland  Kirtland,  Jr.,  of 
Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  1903 
(134  pages).     (2)  The  Fables  of  Orbilius  by  A.  D.  Godley, 

^  See  Professor  Allen's  article,  "  The  First  Year  of  Greek,"  in  the 
Classical  Journal,  X  (1915),  pages  262-266. 

2  As  early  as  the  seventeenth  century  books  were  produced  which  may 
be  regarded  as  the  forerunners  of  this  sort  of  modern  composition  in 
the  ancient  language.  One  of  these  was  published  in  1604  under  the 
title:  "locorum  atque  seriorum  tum  novorum  tum  selectorum  atque 
memorabilium  libri  duo,  recensente  Othone  Melandro."  Another  is 
the  "  Terentius  Christianus  seu  Comoediae  Sacrae  —  Terentiano  stylo 
a  Com.  Schonaeo  Coudono  conscriptae,  editio  nova  Amstelodami 
1646":  this  includes  dramas  such  as  Naaman  (princeps  Syrus), 
Tobaeus  (senex),  Saulus,  luditha,  Susanna,  Ananias,  etc.  Still  an- 
other is  the  "Poesis  Dramatica  Nicolai  Amancini  S.  J.,"  in  two 
parts,  published  in  1674  and  1675.  A  century  later  there  appeared 
a  story  which,  judging  from  its  title,  was  designed  primarily  for  stud- 
ents: "  Joachimi  Henrici  Campe  Robinson  Secundus  Tironum  causa 
latine  vertit  Philippus  Julius  Lieberkiihn,"  ZuUich,  1785. 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  413 

London,  Edward  Arnold,  two  small  pamphlets,  illustrated, 
containing  short  and  witty  stories  for  beginners.  (3)  Ora 
Maritima,  A  Latin  Story  for  Beginners,  by  E.  A.  Sonnen- 
schein,  seventh  edition,  1908,  London,  Kegan,  Paul  and 
Co.;  New  York,  The  Macmillan  Company  (157  pages). 
This  is  the  account  of  the  experiences  of  some  boys  during 
a  summer  in  Kent.  (4)  Pro  Patria,  A  Latin  Story  for  Be- 
ginners by  Professor  E.  A.  Sonnenschein,  London,  Swan, 
Sonnenschein  and  Co. ;  New  York,  The  Macmillan  Company, 
1910  (188  pages).  (5)  Rex  Aurei  Rivi,  auctore  Johanne 
Ruskin,  Latine  inter pretatus  est  Arcadius  Avellanus,  Neo- 
eboraci,  1914  (Published  by  E.  P.  Prentice).  (6)  F.  G. 
Moore:  Porta  Latina,  Fables  of  La  Fontaine  in  a  Latin 
Version,  Ginn  and  Co.,  1915. 

A  series  of  translations  of  modern  fiction  is  now  being 
produced  under  the  title  of  The  Mount  Hope  Classics,  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  E.  P.  Prentice,  37  Wall  Street,  New  York 
City.  The  translator  is  Dr.  Arcadius  Avellanus.  The  first 
of  these  appeared  in  1914  under  the  title  Pericla  Navarci 
Magonis,  this  being  a  translation  of  The  Adventures  of 
Captain  Mago,  or  With  a  Phoenician  Expedition,  B.  c.  1000, 
by  Leon  Cahun,  Scribner's,  1889.  The  second  volume, 
Mons  Spes  et  Fahulae  Aliae,  a  collection  of  short  stories, 
was  published  in  1918.  The  third,  Mysterium  Arcae  Boule, 
published  in  1916,  is  the  well-known  Mystery  of  the  Boule 
Cabinet  by  Mr.  Burton  Egbert  Stevenson.  The  fourth, 
Fabulae  Divales,  published  in  1918,  is  a  collection  of  fairy 
stories  for  young  readers  to  which  is  added  a  version  of 
Ovid's  Amor  et  Psyche. 

Over  these  books  a  lively  controversy  has  arisen  be- 
tween Dr.  Avellanus  and  Mr.  Charles  H.  Forbes,  of  Phillips 
Academy,  Andover.^  Undoubtedly  the  translator's  style  and 
vocabulary  are  far  from  being  strictly  in  accord  with  the 
present  canons  of  classical  Latin.  He  employs  a  multitude 
of  words  and  idioms  unfamiliar  to  those  whose  reading  has 

^  See  the  Classical  Journal,  XI  (1914),  pages  25-32;  Classical 
Weekly,  IX  (1915  16),  pages  149-151;  X  (1916),  pages  38 f.;  Clas- 
sical  Weekly,  X  (1916),  pages  37  f. 


414  College  Teaching 

been  confined  to  the  masterpieces  of  the  ancient  literature 
which  are  most  commonly  studied.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
ancient  language  is  made  in  these  books  a  medium  of  modern 
thought.  The  stories  presented  hold  the  attention,  the 
vividness  of  the  narrative  captivates  the  reader  and  carries 
him  through  the  obscurities  of  diction  and  of  style  to  a 
wholly  unexpected  realization  that  Latin  is  a  real  language 
after  all. 

It  is  a  serious  question  whether  students  can  ever  ac- 
quire a  mastery  of  a  language,  or  even  a  sufficient  knowledge 
of  it  really  to  appreciate  its  literature,  unless  they  learn  to 
use  this  language  to  express  their  own  thoughts.  But 
it  is  evident  that  it  is  impossible  adequately  to  express 
modern  ideas  in  the  language  of  Caesar  and  Cicero.  Those 
who  would  exclude  the  Latin  of  comparatively  recent 
authors  such  as  Erasmus  from  the  canon  of  the  Latin 
which  may  be  taught,  as  well  as  those  who  confine  their 
teaching  to  the  translation  and  parsing  of  certain  texts, 
are  raising  the  question  whether  the  Latin  language  should 
be  taught  at  all  in  modem  times. 

Naturally  less  effort  has  been  made  to  provide  for  students 
modern  literature  in  ancient  Greek.  At  least  one  such 
book,  however,  is  available,  The  Greek  War  of  Independ- 
ence, 1821—27,  told  in  classical  Greek  for  the  use  of  be- 
ginners (with  notes  and  exercises)  by  C.  D.  Chambers: 
published  by  Swan,  Sonnenschein  and  Co. 

In  nearly  all  American  colleges  courses  in  Greek  and 

Composi-        Latin  composition  are  given,  either  as  a  means  of  mental 
tion "  .    .  .  1  .  ,  - 

trammg  or  m  order  to  give  a  more  complete  mastery  of 

these  languages  and  a  greater  facility  in  reading  the  litera- 
ture. In  some  places,  for  example  at  the  University  of 
California,  a  series  of  courses  is  given  in  both  Greek  and 
Latin  composition  culminating  in  original  compositions, 
translations  of  selections  from  modern  literature,  and  con- 
versation in  the  ancient  languages.  Courses  in  Latin  con- 
versation ^  are  given  in  other  places  also,  and  courses  in 
the  pronunciation  of  ancient  Greek  and  Latin. '^ 

1  See  note  2,  page  411.  '  Columbia. 


Courses  In 
Prose 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  415 

All  such  courses  belong  to  the  general  field  of  the  study 
of  the  classical  languages  as  distinguished  from  the  study 
of  the  literature,  history,  or  any  other  phase  of  the  classi- 
cal civilization.  This  branch  of  language  study,  of  course, 
includes  such  purely  linguistic  courses  as  those  in  Com- 
parative Philology,  Comparative  Grammar,  the  Morphology 
of  the  Ancient  Languages,  Syntax,  Dialects,  etc. 

The  bulk  of  classical  teaching  in  American  colleges  is  Courses  in 
devoted  to  the  literature.  The  great  majority  of  all  col- 
lege courses  in  Latin  and  Greek  have  the  same  general 
characteristics.^  A  certain  limited  portion  of  text  is  as- 
signed for  preparation.  This  text  is  then  translated  by 
the  students  in  class,  and  the  translation  corrected.  Gram- 
matical and  exegetical  questions  and  the  content  of  the 
passage  are  discussed.  Most  of  the  time  at  each  meeting 
of  the  class  is  consumed  in  such  exercises.  Generally  lec- 
tures or  informal  talks  are  given  by  the  instructor  upon  the 
life  and  personality  of  each  author  whose  work  is  read, 
upon  the  life  and  thought  of  his  times,  upon  the  literary  ac- 
tivity as  a  whole,  and  upon  the  value  of  those  selections 
from  his  works  which  are  the  subject  of  the  course.  Some- 
times the  students  are  required  to  read  more  of  the  original 
literature  than  can  be  translated  in  class.  Generally  some 
collateral  reading  in  English  is  assigned.  Often  the  in- 
structor reads  to  the  class,  usually  from  the  original,  other 
portions  of  the  ancient  literature. 

The  number  and  extent  of  such  courses  in  the  different 
institutions  vary  according  to  the  strength  of  the  faculty, 
the  plan  of  the  curriculum,  and  the  number  and  demands 
of  the  students  in  each.  In  the  main,  however,  the  list  of 
selections  from  the  ancient  literature  presented  in  such 
courses  in  all  the  colleges  is  much  the  same.  Many  of 
these  courses  deal  with  one  particular  author  and  his  works, 
such  as  Sophocles,  Plato,  Plautus,  or  Horace.  Others  deal 
with   some   particular   kind   of    literature,   such    as   Greek 

>  This  is  true  of  the  courses  in  secondary  schools  and  graduate  courses 
in  universities  also;  but  in  the  secondary  and  graduate  schools  the 
proportion  of  translation  courses  to  the  others  is  smaller. 


416 


College  Teaching 


Methods 

commonly 

pursued 


Value  of 
sucb  courses 


tragedy  or  oratory,  Latin  comedy,  etc.,  or  with  a  group  of 
authors  of  different  types  combined  for  the  sake  of  variety.^ 

The  methods  as  well  as  the  aims  of  such  courses  are  well 
exemplified  in  the  following  passages  contained  in  the 
Circular  of  Information  for  1915-1916  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  page  211:  "Ability  to  read  Greek  with 
accuracy  and  ease,  and  intelligent  enjoyment  of  the  master- 
pieces of  Greek  literature  are  the  indispensable  prere- 
quisites of  all  higher  Greek  scholarship.  All  other  inter- 
ests that  may  attach  to  the  study  are  subordinate  to  these, 
and  their  pursuit  is  positively  harmful  if  it  prematurely 
distracts  the  student's  attention  from  his  main  purpose." 

It  is  not  immediately  apparent  what  distinction  is  made 
here,  if  there  is  any,  between  the  "  prerequisites  "  and  the 
"  main  purpose  "  of  classical  scholarship.  What  the  chief 
aim  of  classical  teaching  is  according  to  this  view,  however, 
is  made  clear  by  the  two  paragraphs  which  follow,  as  well 
as  by  the  descriptions  of  the  individual  courses  offered  by 
the  Chicago  faculty. 

"  In  the  work  of  the  Junior  Colleges  the  Department  will 
keep  this  principle  steadily  in  view,  and  will  endeavor  to 
teach  a  practical  knowledge  of  Greek  vocabulary  and  idiom, 
and  to  impart  literary  and  historic  culture  by  means  of 
rapid  viva  voce  translation  and  interpretation  of  the  simpler 
masterpieces  of  the  literature.  ...  In  the  Senior  Colleges 
the  chief  stress  will  be  laid  on  reading  and  exegesis,  but  the 
range  of  authors  presented  to  the  student's  choice  will  be 
enlarged." 

The  advantage  of  such  courses  is  that  they  make  the 
students  who  take  them  familiar  with  at  least  some  limited 
portions  of  the  best  of  the  ancient  literature  in  its  original 
form,  and  most  people  are  agreed  that  this  is  the  only  way 
in  which  students  can  be  taught  to  appreciate  that  part  of 
this  literature,  the  value  of  which  lies  chiefly  or  wholly  in 
its  form.     But  people  are  not  agreed  upon  two  most  serious 

1  For  example,  at  Harvard  one  course  includes  Plato,  Lysias,  Lyric 
Poetry,  and  Euripides,  with  lectures  on  the  history  of  Greek  litera- 
ture; another  Livy,  Terence,  Horace  and  other  Latin  Poets. 


these 
courses 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  417 

questions  which  arise  in  this  connection.  The  first  is 
whether  all  students  are  capable  of  appreciating  at  all  litera- 
ture of  this  sort,  especially  when  it  is  conveyed  in  an  ancient 
and  difficult  language.  The  other  question  is  how  much 
of  the  classical  literature  really  depends  for  its  values 
chiefly  upon  its  form.  To  say  that  the  Psalms  and  the 
Gospels  have  no  value  or  little  value  for  the  world  apart 
from  the  original  form  and  language  in  which  they  were 
written  would,  of  course,  be  absurd.  Is  it  any  less  absurd 
to  say  that  the  study  of  the  Homeric  poems,  the  Attic  trage- 
dies, the  works  of  Thucydides  and  Plato  would  have  little 
value  for  students  unless  this  literature  were  studied  in 
the  original  language?  These  questions  cannot  properly 
be  ignored  any  longer  by  teachers  of  the  Classics. 

The  defects  of  such  courses  are  manifest  to  most  per-  Defects  ox 
sons.  Students  who  pursue  these  courses  through  most  of 
the  years  of  secondary  school  and  college  fail  to  acquire 
either  such  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages 
as  would  enable  them  to  read  with  pleasure  and  profit 
a  Greek  or  Latin  book,  or  such  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek 
and  Roman  literature  and  civilization  as  would  enable  them 
to  appreciate  the  value  of  classical  studies.  Many  of  them 
graduate  from  college  without  even  knowing  that  there 
is  anything  really  worthy  of  their  attention  in  the  classical 
literatures.  The  fact  stares  the  teachers  of  the  Classics 
grimly  in  the  face  that  they  are  not  accomplishing  the  aims 
which  they  profess. 

One  explanation  of  this  fact  suggests  itself.  In  the  clas- 
sical courses  commonly  given  in  American  colleges  the 
attention  paid  to  the  content  of  the  literature,  to  the  author 
and  his  times  —  the  lectures  and  readings  by  the  instruc- 
tor, the  discussion  of  archaeological,  historical,  literary,  and 
philosophical  matters  introduced  into  the  course, —  distract 
attention  from  the  study  of  the  language  itself,  and  check 
this  study  before  a  real  mastery  of  the  language  has  been 
secured.  On  the  other  hand,  the  time  and  still  more  the 
attention  devoted  in  these  courses  to  the  mere  process  of 
translation  detracts  from  the  appreciation  of  the  literature 


418 


College  Teaching 


Courses  not 

requiring 

knowledge 

of  the 

ancient 

languages 


and  obstructs  the  study  of  the  liie  and  thought.  In  attempt- 
ing to  accomplish  both  purposes  in  these  courses  the 
teachers  fail  to  accomplish  either,  and  the  result  is  chiefly 
a  certain  mental  training,  the  practical  value  of  which  de- 
pends largely  upon  the  mental  capacity  and  skill  of  each 
individual  teacher,  and  is  not  readily  appreciated. 

To  obviate  some  of  these  defects,  and  also  to  provide 
courses  on  Greek  and  Roman  culture  for  those  unfamiliar 
with  the  ancient  languages,  courses  which  require  no  use 
of  these  languages  are  now  given  at  various  colleges  on 
Classical  Literature  or  Civilization.^  A  course  on  the 
"  Greek  Epic  "  at  the  University  of  California  is  described 
as  follows:  "A  study  chiefly  of  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey; 
their  form,  origin,  and  content;  Homeric  and  pre-Homeric 
Aegean  civilizations;  relative  merits  of  modern'  transla- 
tions; influence  of  the  Homeric  poems  on  the  later  Greek, 
Roman,  and  modern  literature.  Lectures  (partly  illus- 
trated), assigned  readings,  discussions,  and  reports."  The 
course  at  Harvard  entitled  "  Survey  of  Greek  Civilization  " 
is  "  A  lecture  course,  with  written  tests  on  a  large  body  of 
private  reading  (mostly  in  English).  No  knowledge  of 
Greek  is  required  beyond  the  terms  which  must  necessarily 
be  learned  to  understand  the  subject."  "  The  prescribed 
reading  includes  translations  of  Greek  authors  as  well  as 
modern  books  on  Greek  life  and  thought."  The  lecturer 
frequently  reads  and  comments  upon  selections  from  the 
ancient  literature.  At  Brown  University  a  course  is  given 
on  Greek  Civilization,  including  the  following  topics: 
I  Topography  of  Greece,  II  Prehistoric  Greece,  III  The 
Language,  IV  Early  Greece  (The  Makers  of  Homer,  Expan- 
sion of  Greece,  Tyrannies,  The  New  Poetry,  etc.),  V  The 
Transition  Century,  600-500  B.C.  ((a)  Government  and 
Political  Life,  (b)  Literature,  (c)  art),  VI  The  Classical 
Epoch,  500-338  B.C.  ((a)  Political  and  Military  History, 
(6)  Literature,  (c)  The  Fine  Arts),  VII  The  Hellenistic 
and  Graeco-Roman  Periods,  ((o)  History,  (b)  Literature, 
(c)  Philosophy,  (d)  Learning  and  Science,  (e)  Art),  VIII 
^  See  above,  page  407  f. 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  419 


The  Sequel  of  Greek  History  (The  Byzantine  Empire,  the 
Italian  Renaissance,  Mediaeval  and  Modern  Greece).  This 
is  described  as  "  Wholly  a  lecture  course,  with  frequent 
written  tests,  examination  of  the  notebooks,  and  a  final  ex- 
amination on  the  whole.  Definite  selections  of  the  most 
conspicuous  authors  are  required  in  English  translations." 
The  lecturer  also  reads  selections  from  Homer,  the  Greek 
drama,  Pindar,  etc.  Similar  courses  on  Roman  civiliza- 
tion are  given  at  both  Brown  and  Harvard.  There  is  also 
a  course  of  fifteen  lectures  on  "  Greek  Civilization "  at 
Vermont;  "The  Culture  History  of  Rome,  lectures  with 
supplementary  reading  in  English,"  at  Washington  Uni- 
versity; "Greek  Civilization,  lectures  and  collateral  read- 
ing on  the  political  institutions,  the  art,  religion,  and  scien- 
tific thought  of  ancient  Greece  in  relation  to  modern  civili- 
zation," at  Wesleyan;  "The  Role  of  the  Greeks  in  Civili- 
zation "  at  Wisconsin.^ 

Whatever  success  such  courses  may  have,  they  are  open 
to  one  criticism.  Most,  if  not  all  of  them,  appear  to  be 
primarily  lecture  courses,  with  more  or  less  collateral 
reading  controlled  by  tests  and  examinations.  The  experi- 
ence of  many,  however,  justifies  to  some  extent  the  belief  that 
college  students  derive  little  benefit  from  collateral  reading 
controlled  only  in  this  way,  because  such  reading  is  com- 
monly most  superficial.  Little  mental  training,  therefore, 
is  involved  in  courses  such  as  those  just  described,  and  the 
ideas  which  the  students  acquire  in  them  are  chiefly  those 
given  to  them  by  others.  And  it  may  reasonably  be  doubted 
whether  the  value  to  the  students  of  ideas  received  in  this 
way  is  comparable  to  the  value  of  those  which  they  are  led 
to  discover  for  themselves.  So  far,  then,  as  such  courses 
fail  to  accomplish  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  de- 
signed, their  failure  may  be  due  wholly  to  this  cause. 

It  is  entirely  possible  to  conceive  of  courses  in  which 
no  use  of  the  ancient  languages  would  be  required,  but  in 
which  the  students  would  acquire  by  their  own  efforts  a 

*  For  a  fuller  list  of  institutions  where  classical  courses  not  requiring 
a  knowledge  of  the  ancient  languages  are  given  see  above,  page  407. 


Defects  of 
the  lecture 
system 


Tbe  study 
of  litera- 
ture apart 
from  its 
original 
language 


420  College  Teaching 

knowledge  of  the  classical  literature  and  civilization  far 
more  extensive  and  more  satisfying  than  in  courses  largely 
devoted  to  translating  from  Greek  and  Latin.  Such  courses 
would  not  merely  substitute  English  translations  for  the 
originals,  and  treat  these  translations  as  the  originals  are 
treated  in  courses  of  the  traditional  type;  the  ancient  litera- 
ture would  be  studied  in  the  same  way  as  English  litera- 
ture is  studied.  For  example,  in  a  course  of  this  kind  on 
Greek  literature,  in  dealing  with  the  Odyssey  the  students 
would  discuss  in  class,  or  present  written  reports  upon,  the 
composition  of  the  poem  as  a  whole,  and  the  relation  to 
the  main  plot  of  different  episodes  such  as  the  quest  of 
Telemachus,  his  visit  to  Pylos  and  Lacedaemon,  the  scene  in 
Calypso's  cave,  the  building  of  the  raft,  the  arrival  of 
Odysseus  among  the  Phaeacians,  his  account  of  his  own  ad- 
ventures, his  return  to  Ithaca,  the  slaying  of  the  wooers, 
etc.;  also  the  characters  of  the  poem,  their  individual  ex- 
periences and  behavior  in  various  circumstances,  and  the 
ideas  which  they  express,  comparing  these  characters  and 
ideas  with  those  of  modern  times.  In  dealing  with  the 
drama,  the  students  would  study  the  composition  of  each 
play,  present  its  plot  in  narrative  form,  and  criticize  it 
from  the  dramatic  as  well  as  from  the  literary  standpoint; 
they  would  discuss  the  characters  and  situations,  and  the 
ideas  embodied  in  each.^  In  dealing  with  Thucydides  they 
would  discuss  the  plan  of  his  book  and  the  artistic  ele- 
ments in  its  composition;  also  the  critical  standards  of 
the  author,  his  methods,  his  objectivity,  and  his  personal 
bias.  They  would  study  the  debates  in  which  the  arguments 
on  both  sides  of  great  issues  are  presented,  expressing 
their  own  opinions  on  the  questions  involved.  They  would 
study  the  great  descriptions,  such  as  the  account  of  the 
siege  of  Plataea,  the  plague  at  Athens,  the  last  fight  in  the 
harbor  of  Syracuse,  making  a  summary  in  their  own  lan- 

^ "  Die  hochste  Aufgabe  bei  der  Lektiire  des  griechischen  Dramas  sei 
das  Stuck  Leben,  das  uns  der  Dichter  vor  Augen  fiihrt,  in  seinem 
vollen  Inhalt  miterleben  zu  lassen."  C.  Wunderer,  in  Blatter  fiir 
das  Gymnasial-Schulwesen,  Vol.  LII  (1916),  1. 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  421 


guage  of  the  most  essential  or  effective  details.  Lastly  they 
would  discuss  such  figures  as  Pericles,  Nicias  and  Alcibi- 
ades,  Archidamus,  Brasidas  and  Hermocrates,  their  charac- 
ters, principles,  and  motives.  In  dealing  with  Plato  they 
would  study  the  character  of  Socrates  and  those  ideas  con- 
tained in  the  Platonic  dialogues  which  can  be  most  readily 
comprehended  by  college  students. 

The  study  of  "  The  Classics  "  is  not  properly  confined 
to  the  Greek  and  Latin  literatures:  it  includes  the  military, 
political,  social,  and  economic  history  of  the  ancient  Greeks 
and  Romans,  their  institutions,  their  religion,  morals,  phi- 
losophy, science,  art,  and  private  life.  The  geography  and 
topography  of  ancient  lands,  anthropology  and  ethnology, 
archaeology  and  epigraphy  contribute  to  its  material.  It 
is  not  necessary  that  all  these  subjects  be  taught  by  mem- 
bers of  a  classical  department.  In  particular  it  is  the 
common  practice  in  this  country  to  relegate  the  study  of 
ancient  philosophy  to  the  Department  of  Philosophy,  where- 
as in  England  and  on  the  Continent  such  distinctions  between 
departments  are  not  recognized.  But  certainly  these 
branches  of  the  study  of  the  classical  civilization  should 
be  taught  best  by  those  most  familiar  with  the  classical 
civilization  in  all  its  phases,  and  most  thoroughly  trained 
in  the  interpretation  and  criticism  of  its  literature.  It  is 
also  obvious  that  the  teaching  of  the  classical  literature 
would  be  emasculated  if  it  were  separated  from  these  other 
subjects  mentioned.  Only,  such  subjects  as  history  should 
not  be  taught  from  the  literary  point  of  view.  History 
should  be  an  account  of  what  actually  took  place,  derived 
from  every  available  source  and  not  from  a  synthesis  of  a 
literary  tradition.  In  this  respect  the  teachers  of  the  Clas- 
sics have  from  the  earliest  times  made  the  most  serious 
mistakes.  To  some  extent  the  same  charges  may  be  brought 
against  the  methods  and  traditions  of  the  teachers  of  mod- 
ern history.  The  teaching  of  Greek  and  Roman  history, 
however,  is  affected  in  a  peculiar  degree  by  the  traditions 
of  classical  scholarship.  The  historical  courses  given  by 
most  classical  teachers  are  based  upon  the  translation  and 


Classical 
studies  not 
confined  to 
the  ancient 
authors 


422 


College  Teaching 


Snmmary  of 
objects  to  be 
sought  in 
the  teaching 
of  the 
classics 


discussion  of  the  works  of  certain  ancient  authors,  whose 
accounts  are  not  only  false  and  misleading  in  many  re- 
spects, but  characteristically  omit  those  factors  in  the 
ancient  life  which  are  the  most  significant  and  interesting 
to  the  modern  world.  Such  courses  begin  by  implanting 
false  impressions  which  no  amount  of  explanation  can 
eradicate.  The  ancient  world,  therefore,  is  made  to  appear 
to  modern  students  unreal  and  unworthy  of  serious  attention : 
it  is  not  strange  that  they  are  dissatisfied  with  such  teach- 
ing, and  that  it  seems  to  many  practically  worthless.  A 
true  picture  of  the  life  and  experience  of  the  ancient  Greeks 
and  Romans  would  appear  both  interesting  and  profitable 
to  a  normal  college  student. 

The  aims  of  the  teaching  of  the  Classics  in  American 
colleges  should  be  to  give,  in  addition  to  a  training  of  the 
mind: 

1.  An  appreciation  of  the  best  of  the  classical  literature. 
For  this  is,  in  many  respects,  the  best  literature  which  we 
have  at  all,  even  when  without  any  allowances  it  is  com- 
pared with  the  best  of  modern  literatures.  Much  of  it  is 
universal  in  character.  It  is  also  the  foundation  of  the 
modern  literatures.  By  learning  to  appreciate  it,  students 
would  learn  to  judge  and  appreciate  all  literature. 

2.  A  familiarity  with  the  characters  and  narratives  of 
the  ancient  literature.  The  knowledge  of  these  characters, 
their  behavior  under  various  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  and 
their  experiences,  would  of  itself  be  a  valuable  possession 
and  equipment  for  life. 

3.  A  knowledge  of  the  ideas  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans,  revealed  and  developed  in  their  literature,  and 
tested  in  the  realities  of  their  life.  Many  of  these  ideas  are 
of  the  utmost  value  today,  and  are  in  danger  of  being 
overlooked  and  forgotten  in  this  materialistic  age  of  ours, 
unless  they  are  constantly  recalled  to  our  minds  by  such 
studies. 

4.  A  knowledge  of  the  actual  experiences  of  the  ancients, 
as  individuals  and  as  nations,  their  experiments  in  democ- 
racy and  other  forms  of  government,  in  imperialism,  arbi- 


The  Teaching  of  the  Classics  423 

tration,  and  the  like,  their  solutions  of  the  moral,  social, 
and  economic  problems  which  were  as  prominent  in  their 
world  as  in  ours. 

To  realize  these  aims  old  methods  should  be  revised 
and  improved,  new  methods  developed.  For  there  can 
hardly  be  a  study  more  valuable  and  practical  than  this. 

William  K.  Prentice 

Princeton  University 


XXI 


The  college 
course  must 
emphasize 
power,  not 
facts 


The  college 
can  attain 
its  aim  only 
when  the 
student 
brings 
necessary 
facts  from 
secondary 
schools 


THE  TEACHING  OF  THE  ROMANCE 
LANGUAGES 

IT  is  well  at  times  to  emphasize  old  truths,  mainly  be- 
cause they  are  old  and  are  consecrated  by  experience. 
One  of  these,  frequently  combated  nowadays,  is  that  any 
college  course  —  worthy  of  the  name  —  has  other  than 
utilitarian  ends.  I  therefore  declare  my  belief  that  the 
student  does  not  go  to  college  primarily  to  acquire  facts. 
These  he  can  learn  from  books  or  from  private  instruction. 
Me  judice  —  he  goes  to  college  primarily  to  learn  how  to 
interpret  facts,  and  to  arrive  through  this  experience  at 
their  practical  as  well  as  their  theoretic  value:  as  respects 
himself,  as  respects  others,  and  in  an  ever  widening  circle 
as  regards  humanity  in  general.  The  first  object,  thus, 
of  a  college  course  is  to  humanize  the  individual,  to  eman- 
cipate him  intellectually  and  emotionally  from  his  pre- 
judices and  conventions  by  giving  him  a  wider  horizon,  a 
sounder  judgment,  a  firmer  and  yet  a  more  tolerant  point 
of  view.  "  Our  proclivity  to  details,"  said  Emerson,  "  can- 
not quite  degrade  our  life  and  divest  it  of  poetry."  The 
college  seizes  upon  the  liberating  instinct  of  youth  and 
utilizes  it  for  all  it  is  worth.  We  summarize  by  saying 
that  the  college  prepares  not  merely  for  "  life  "  but  for 
"  living  " ;  so  that  the  society  whom  the  individual  serves 
will  be  served  by  him  loyally,  intelligently,  and  broad- 
mindedly,  with  an  increasing  understanding  of  its  aims  and 
purposes. 

This,  let  us  assume,  is  the  somewhat  lofty  ideal.  What 
about  its  concrete  realization?  Especially  when  the  sub- 
ject is  a  language,  which,  considering  that  it  consists  of 
parts  of  speech,  inflections,  phonetics,  etc.,  is  a  very  prac- 
tical matter  and  apparently  far  removed  from  the  ideal  in 
question.  Every  language  teacher  is  familiar  with  this 
stock  objection.     How  often  has  he  not  been  told  that  his 

424 


f 


Tcachiucf  of  the  Romance  Languages     425 

business  is  not  to  teach  French  culture  or  Spanish  life, 
but  French  and  Spanish?  And  as  everybody  knows,  French 
and  Spanish  are  not  learned  in  a  day,  nor,  indeed,,  if  we 
judge  by  the  average  graduate  of  our  colleges,  in  four  years 
of  classroom  work.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  combat  the 
contention  that  college  French  or  Spanish  or  Italian  could 
be  taught  better,  and  that  from  a  utilitarian  point  of  view 
the  subject  is  capable  of  a  great  deal  of  improvement.  As 
Professor  Grandgent  has  trenchantly  said :  "  I  do  not  be- 
lieve there  is  or  ever  was  a  language  more  difficult  to  acquire 
than  French;  most  of  us  can  name  worthy  persons  who 
have  been  assiduously  struggling  with  it  from  childhood 
to  mature  age,  and  who  do  not  know  it  now:  yet  it  is 
treated  as  something  any  one  can  pick  up  offhand.  .  .  . 
French  staggers  under  the  fearful  burden  of  apparent  easi- 
ness." I  do  not  think  these  words  overstate  the  case.  All 
the  more  reason,  then,  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  burden 
of  this  accomplishment  should  not  fall  on  the  college  course 
alone,  or,  I  should  even  say,  on  the  college  course  at  all. 
For  the  fact  is  that  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Romance 
tongues  cannot  be  acquired  in  any  college  course,  and  to 
attack  the  problem  from  that  angle  alone  is  to  attempt  the 
impossible.  It  is  on  the  school,  and  not  on  the  college,  that 
the  obligation  of  the  practical  language  problem  -  rests. 
If  our  students  are  to  become  proficient  in  French  —  in 
the  sense  that  they  can  not  only  read  it  but  write  and 
speak  it  with  passable  success  —  the  language  must  be  begun 
early,  in  the  grade  school  (when  memory  and  apperception 
are  still  fresh),  and  then  carried  forward  systematically  over 
a  period  of  from  six  to  seven  years.  But  this  will  require 
on  the  part  of  our  schools:  (1)  a  longer  time  allotment 
to  the  subject  than  it  now  generally  has,  (2)  a  closer  articu- 
lation between  the  grade-school,  high-school,  and  college 
bourses,  and  (3)  the  appointment  of  better  and  higher-paid 
teachers  of  the  subject.  An  encouraging  move  is  being 
made  in  many  parts  of  the  country  to  carry  out  this  plan, 
though  of  course  we  are  still  a  long  way  from  its  reali- 
zation; and  when  it  is  realized  we  shall  not  yet  have  reached 


426 


College  Teaching 


Limitations 
of  elementa- 
ry and  inter- 
mediate 
courses  as 
college 
courses 


Aim  of  the 
teaching  of 
Romance 
languages  in 
the  college 


ihe  millennium.  But  at  least  we  shall  have  given  the  prac- 
tical teaching  of  the  subject  a  chance,  comparable  to  the 
opportunity  it  has  in  Europe;  and  the  complaint  against 
the  French  and  Spanish  teacher  —  if  there  still  be  a  chronic 
complaint  —  will  have  other  grounds  than  the  one  we  so 
commonly  hear  at  present. 

In  the  meantime,  let  us  remember  that  the  college  has 
other,  and  more  pressing,  things  to  do  than  to  attempt  to 
supply  the  shortcomings  of  the  school.  It  is  certainly  es- 
sential that  the  college  should  continue  and  develop  the 
practical  work  of  the  school  in  various  ways,  such  as  ad- 
vanced exercises  and  lectures  in  the  foreign  idiom,  special 
conversation  classes,  and  the  like  —  if  only  for  the  simple 
reason  that  a  language  that  is  not  uBed  soon  falls  into  desue- 
tude and  is  forgotten.  But  assuredly  the  so-called  elemen- 
tary, intermediate,  and  advanced  courses  in  French  and 
Spanish  (as  given  in  college)  do  not  fall  under  that  head. 
They  exist  in  the  college  by  tolerance  rather  than  by  sound 
pedagogical  theory,  and  the  effort  now  being  made  to  force 
all  such  courses  back  into  the  school  by  reducing  the  college 
"  credits  "  they  give  is  worthy  of  undivided  support.  Not 
only  are  they  out  of  place  in  the  college  program,  but  the 
burden  of  numerous  and  often  large  "  sections  "  in  these 
courses  has  seriously  impeded  the  college  in  its  proper 
language  work.  The  college  in  its  true  function  is  the 
clarifier  of  ideas,  the  correlator  of  facts,  the  molder  of 
personalities;  and  the  student  of  modern  languages  should 
enter  college  prepared  to  study  his  subject  from  the  college 
point  of  view.  Much  of  the  apparent  "  silliness  "  of  the 
French  class  which  our  more  virile  undergraduates  object 
to  would  be  obviated  if  a  larger  percentage  of  them  could 
at  once  enter  upon  the  more  advanced  phases  of  the  subject. 
It  is,  then,  to  their  interest,  to  the  interest  of  the  subject, 
and  to  the  advantage  of  the  college  concerned,  that  this 
reform  be  brought  about. 

In  any  case,  the  function  of  a  college  subject  can  be 
stated,  as  President  Meiklejohn  has  stated  it,  in  terms  of 
two   principles.     He  says:     "The  first  is  shared  by  both 


Teaching  of  the  Romance  Languages     427 

liberal  and  technical  teaching.  The  second  applies  to 
liberal  education  alone.  The  principles  are  these:  (1) 
that  activity  guided  by  ideas  is  on  the  whole  more  success- 
ful than  the  same  activity  without  the  control  of  ideas,  and 
(2)  that  in  the  activities  common  to  all  men  the  guidance 
of  ideas  is  quite  as  essential  as  in  the  case  of  those  which 
different  groups  of  men  carry  on  in  differentiation  from 
one  another."  As  applied  to  the  Romance  languages,  this 
means  that  while  the  college  must  of  course  give  "  techni- 
cal "  instruction  in  language,  the  emphasis  of  that  instruc- 
tion should  be  upon  the  "  ideas  "  which  the  language  ex- 
presses, in  itself  and  in  its  literature.  It  is  not  enough 
that  the  college  student  should  gain  fluency  in  French  or 
Spanish,  he  must  also  and  primarily  be  made  conscious 
of  the  processes  of  language,  its  logical  and  aesthetic  values, 
the  civilization  it  expresses,  and  the  thoughts  it  has  to 
convey.  While  it  may  be  said  that  all  thorough  language 
instruction  accomplishes  this  incidentally,  the  college 
makes  this  the  aim  of  its  teaching.  The  college  should 
furnish  an  objective  appraisal  of  the  fundamental  elements 
of  the  foreign  idiom,  not  merely  a  subjective  (and  often 
superficial)  mastery  of  details.  For  the  old  statement  re- 
mains true  that  —  when  properly  studied  — "  proverbs, 
words,  and  grammar  inflections  convey  the  public  sense 
with  more  purity  and  precision  than  the  wisest  in- 
dividual";  ^  and  what  shall  we  say  when  "literature"  is 
added  to  this  list? 

From  these  preliminary  observations  let  us  now  turn  to    sutusof 

I  r    r»  1  r  Eomance 

the  present  status  of  Romance  languages  m  some  of  our    languages 

representative    colleges.-     One    gratifying    fact     may    be    gentauve 

noted  at  once.     Whereas  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  Greek    colleges  — 

and   Latin   were   still   considered   the   sine   qua   non  of   a      "y* 

liberal   education,   today    French    and    German,   and   to    a 

lesser   extent    Spanish    and    Italian,    have   their    legitimate 

share  in  this  distinction.     Indeed,  to  judge  merely  by  the 

'  The  quotation  is  from  Emerson,  Nominalist  and  Realist. 
- 1   make  no  attempt  in  this  article,  written   before   1917,  to  treat 
actual  teaching  conditions:  the  premises  are  too  uncertain. 


428  College  Teaching 

number  of  students,  they  would  seem  to  have  replaced 
Latin  and  Greek.  To  be  sure,  several  colleges,  as  for  in- 
stance Amherst  and  Chicago,  alarmed  by  this  swing  of  the 
pendulum,  have  reserved  the  B.A.  degree  for  the  traditional 
classical  discipline.  But  in  the  first  case  the  entire  cur- 
riculum includes  "  two  years  of  Greek  or  Latin,"  and  in 
the  second  the  B.A.  students  comprise  but  a  very  small 
percentage  of  the  college  body;  and  while  in  both  cases 
Latin  and  Greek  are  required  subjects,  Romance  is  ad- 
mitted as  an  elective,  in  which  —  to  mention  only  Am- 
herst —  six  consecutive  semester  courses,  covering  the  main 
phases  of  modern  French  literature,  can  be  chosen.  As 
noted,  the  recognition  of  modern  languages  as  cultural 
subjects  is  relatively  recent.  As  late  as  1884  a  commis- 
sion, appointed  by  the  Modern  Language  Association, 
found  that  "  few  colleges  have  a  modern  language  re- 
quirement for  admission  to  the  course  in  arts;  ...  of 
the  fifty  reported,  three  require  French,  two  offer  an  elec- 
tion between  French  and  German,  and  two  require  both 
French  and  German."  And  of  these  same  colleges, 
"  eighteen  require  no  foreign  language,  twenty-nine  re- 
quire either  French  or  German,  and  eighteen  require  both 
French  and  German,  for  graduation  in  the  arts." 

Obviously,  few  (at  most  seven)  of  the  colleges  ex- 
amined admitted  students  prepared  to  take  advanced 
courses  in  French;  and  only  eighteen,  or  36  per  cent,  al- 
lowed students  to  begin  French  in  the  freshman  year, 
over  one  half  of  the  entire  number  postponing  the  be- 
ginners' French  until  the  sophomore,  junior,  or  even  senior 
year.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  as  late  as  1864,  and  in 
spite  of  such  illustrious  examples  as  that  set  by  Harvard 
in  the  appointment  of  Ticknor  to  the  Smith  professor- 
ship in  1816,  the  Romance  languages  could  hardly  be 
classed  as  a  recognized  college  subject.  At  best,  they 
were  taught  on  the  principles  that  "  it  is  never  too  late  to 
learn,"  and  although  this  teaching  failed  from  the 
"  practical  "  point  of  view,  it  yet  had  little  or  no  op- 
portunity to  concern  itself  with  the  cultural  aspects  of  the 


Teaching  of  the  Romance  Languages     429 

subject.  No  wonder  the  commission  reported  ^  that  in 
the  circumstances  "  a  mastery  of  language,  as  well  as  a 
comprehensive  study  of  the  literature,  is  impossible." 
With  the  part  played  by  our  Greek  and  Latin  col- 
leagues in  keeping  the  modern  languages  out  of  the  cur- 
riculum we  need  not  deal  in  detail  here.  It  is  enough, 
in  order  to  explain  their  attitude,  to  observe  that  previous 
to  1884  the  teaching  of  modern  languages  was  generally 
poor:  it  was  intrusted  for  the  most  part  to  foreigners,  who, 
being  usually  ignorant  of  the  finer  shades  of  English  and 
woefully  ignorant  of  American  students,  could  not  have 
been  expected  to  succeed,  or  to  native  Americans,  who 
for  various  and  often  excellent  reasons  lacked  the  proper 
training,  and  therefore  succeeded  —  when  in  rare  cases 
they  did  succeed  —  in  spite  of  their  qualifications  rather 
than  because  of  them.  Add  to  all  this  the  conviction 
natural  to  every  classicist,  that  Latin  and  Greek  are  the 
keys  to  all  Western  civilization  and  that  without  them 
Romance  literatures  (not  to  say  "languages")  are  incom- 
prehensible, and  the  situation  up  to  the  90's  is  amply  clear. 

Today,  then,  conditions  are  changed,  and  for  better  or    Contempo- 
worse   the    Romance    tongues   are    on    a    par    with    other    of  Romance 
collegiate  subjects.     A  glance  at  the  latest  statistics  is  in-   ^*u**** 
structive.     In    1910,  out  of  340  colleges  and  universities    curricula 
in  the  United  States,  328  taught  French;  112  (the  universi- 
ties)  offered  more  than  four  years'  instruction,  50  offered 
four  years,  90  three  years,  68  two  years,  and  only  8  one 
year.     The   present   status  can  easily   be  divined:   the  in- 
terest in  Spanish  has  certainly  not  waned,  while  the  inter- 
est   in   French   has   grown   by   leaps   and   bounds.     Some 
curtailment  there  has  been,  owing  to  the  adoption  of  the 
"group   system"   of  studies  on   the  part  of  most   of  the 
colleges,  and  as  the  colleges  are  relieved  of  more  and  more 
of  the  elementary  work  there  doubtless  will  be  more.     But, 
in  any  case,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  French,  Spanish,  and 

^  The  above  statistics  are  from  C.  H.  Handschin,  The  Teaching  of 
Modern  Languages  in  the  United  States,  Washington,  1913,  pages 
40ff. 


430  College  Teaching 

Italian  are  now  firmly  installed  as  liberal  studies  in  the 
curricula  of  most  of  our  colleges.  Now,  how  do  they  ful- 
fill this  function?  What  changes  will  be  necessary  in 
order  that  they  may  fulfill  it  better?  What  particular 
advantages  have  they  to  offer  as  a  college  subject?  A 
brief  consideration  of  each   of  these  points   follows. 

In  general,  our  colleges  require  fifteen  units  of  entrance 
credit  and  about  twenty  collegiate  units  for  the  college 
degree.*  Of  the  entrance  units,  a  maximum  of  four  in 
French  and  two  in  Spanish  is  allowed;  and  of  the  college 
units,  an  average  of  five,  or  about  one  fourth  of  the  en- 
tire college  work,-  must  be  taken  consecutively  in  one 
department  of  study  or  in  not  more  than  two  departments. 
This  last  group  of  approximately  five  units  thus  con- 
stitutes, so  to  speak,  the  backbone  of  the  student's  work. 
It  is  his  so-called  "principal  sequence"  (Chicago)  or  his 
"two. majors"  (Amherst)  or  his  "major  subject"  (Wis- 
consin and  Colorado) ;  and  while  in  the  case  of  Amherst 
it  cannot  be  begun  "  until  after  the  freshman  year,"  in 
general  it  must  be  begun  by  the  junior  year.  Consider- 
able variety  prevails,  of  course,  in  carrying  out  this  idea; 
for  example,  Johns  Hopkins  requires  "  at  least  two  courses 
in  the  major  and  at  least  two  in  some  cognate  subject." 
Harvard  states  that  "every  student  shall  take  at  least  six 
of  his  courses  in  some  one  department,  or  in  one  of  the 

^I  cite  the  following  figures:  (a)  Entrance:  Harvard  16%,  Amherst 
14;  Wisconsin  14,  Columbia  14V^,  Colorado  15,  Illinois  15,  Chicago 
15;  (b)  Collegiate  Degree:  Harvard  17 Vi  "courses,"  Amherst  20 
"  courses,"  Wisconsin  120  "  credits,"  Columbia  124  "  points,"  Col- 
orado 120  "  hours  of  scholastic  work,"  Chicago  36  "  trimester  ma- 
jors." It  is  certainly  desirable  that  our  colleges  adopt  some  uniform 
system  for  the  notation  of  their  courses.  Johns  Hopkins,  at  least,  is 
specific  in  explaining  the  relationship  of  its  "  125  points "  to  its 
"courses";  see  page  262  of  the  University  Register,  1916. 

-  At  Chicago  exactly  Vt  or  "  at  least  9  coherent  and  progressive 
majors  "  must  be  taken  in  "  one  department  or  in  a  group  of  depart- 
ments." But  Chicago  also  requires  a  secondary  sequence  of  at  least 
6  majors;  Columbia  requires  three  years  of  "sequential  study  —  in 
each  of  two  departments."  Illinois,  "  a  major  subject  (20  hours)  " 
and  "an  allied  minor  subject  (20  hours)." 


Tcachiiuf  of  the  Romance  Languages      431 

recognized  fields  of  distinction."  Princeton  demands  of 
"  every  junior  and  senior  ...  at  least  two  3-hour  courses 
in  some  one  department."  But  almost  all  representative  col- 
leges now  recognize  four  general  groups  of  study: 
Philosophy  (including  history),  language,  science,  and 
mathematics;  and  the  student's  work  must  be  so  arranged 
that  while  it  is  fairly  evenly  distributed  over  three  of  the 
groups  it  is  at  the  same  time  definitely  concentrated  in  one 
of  them. 

In  answer  to  our  first  question,  it  follows  that  the  student  Normal  pre- 
entering  with  the  maximum  of  French  should  be  able,  be-  asomanca 
fore  graduation,  to  get  enough  advanced  courses  to  give  ^'*°S'^*«» 
him  an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  literature  as  well  as  the 
language.  In  our  better-equipped  colleges  this  is  undoubt- 
edly the  case.  Harvard,  for  instance,  would  admit  him 
to  a  course  (French  2)  in  French  Prose  and  Poetry, 
which  includes  some  "  composition,"  to  be  followed  by 
(6)  a  General  View  of  French  Literature,  (8)  French 
Literature  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  (9)  French  Litera- 
ture in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  (16)  Comedy  of 
Manners  in  France,  (17)  Literary  Criticism  in  France; 
and  in  some  of  these  courses  the  linguistic  aspects  would 
be  considered  in  the  form  of  "  themes,"  "  reports,"  etc., 
while  the  student  could  choose  (5)  Advanced  French  Com- 
position for  that  special  purpose.  Other  colleges  (e.g., 
Johns  Hopkins,  Chicago,  Stanford)  offer  the  same  or 
similar  opportunities.  So  that,  although  titles  of  courses 
are  often  deceptive,  the  general  plan  of  offering  (1)  an 
introductory  course  in  which  both  the  language  and  the 
literature  are  treated,  (2)  a  survey-course  in  literature, 
leading  to  (3)  various  courses  in  literature  after  1600, 
and  supported  by  (4)  at  least  one  specific  course  in 
language,  now  constitutes  the  normal  collegiate  "major" 
in  French;  and,  on  the  whole,  it  would  be  difficult  in  the 
present  circumstances  to  devise  a  better  plan. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  success  of  any  plan  depends  on  the 
thoroughness  with  which  it  is  carried  out,  and  this  in  turn 
depends  on  the  qualifications  and  energy  of  those  who  have 


432 


College  l^eaehing 


Changes  in 
current 
practice 
that  wiU 
enhance  ef- 
fectiveness 
of  teaching 
of  Romance 
Languages 
—  Danger 
of  minimiz- 
ing the 
language 
phase 


the  matter  in  hand.  That  contingency  does  not  concern  us 
here.  But  what  is  worth  noting  is  that  the  fourth  point 
mentioned  above, —  the  specific  language  part  of  the 
"■  major  " —  might  be  strengthened,  especially  since  some  ex- 
cellent institutions  omit  this  consideration  entirely.  The 
danger  of  falling  between  two  stools  is  never  greater,  it 
seems,  than  in  treating  both  language  and  literature.  An 
instructor  who  is  bent  on  elucidating  the  range  of  Anatole 
France's  thought  naturally  has  little  time  to  deal 
adequately  with  his  rich  vocabulary,  his  deft  use  of  tense, 
the  subtle  structure  of  his  phrase  —  and  yet  who  can  be 
said  really  to  "  know  "  such  an  author  if  he  be  ignorant 
of  either  side  of  his  work?  "Thought  expands  but 
lames,"  said  Goethe  —  unless  it  is  constantly  controlled  by 
fact.  In  order  to  give  the  undergraduate  that  control, 
it  is  essential  that  he  should  be  placed  in  the  position 
everywhere  to  verify  his  author's  thought.  How  difficult 
it  is  to  bring  even  the  best  of  our  undergraduates  to  this 
point  I  need  not  discuss.  But  at  least  once  in  the  process 
of  his  work  he  might  be  held  to  a  stricter  account  than 
elsewhere.  And  if  we  ask  ourselves  by  what  method  this 
can  best  be  accomplished,  I  believe  the  answer  is  by  some 
special  course  in  which  the  language  of  several  representa- 
tive writers  is  treated  as  such.^  The  point  could  be 
elaborated,  particularly  in  view  of  the  present-day  tendency 
to  dwell  unduly  on  so-called  realia,  French  daily  life,  and 
the  like  —  all  legitimate  enough  in  their  proper  time  and 
place.  But  enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  excellent 
as  the  present  plan  is,  it  could  without  detriment  enlarge 
the  place  given  to  linguistics.  In  this  bewildered  age  of 
ours  we  are  forever  hearing  the  cry  of  "  literature,"  more 
"  literature  ":  not  only  our  students  but  our  teachers  —  and 
the  connection  is  obvious  —  find  language  study  dull  and 
uninspiring,  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  the  fault  is  theirs 

*  An  excellent  manner  of  procedure  is  that  outlined  by  Professor 
Terracher  in  his  interesting  article  ij  the  Compte  rendu  du  Congres 
de  Langue  et  de  Litterature  Franqaise,  New  York  (Federation  de 
TAlliance  Fran^aise),  1913. 


Teaching  of  the  Uomnuce  Ijanguages     433 

and  not  the  subject's.  Yet,  as  we  observed  above,  French 
is  "  hard,"  and  its  grammatical  structure,  apparently  so 
simple,  is  in  truth  very  complicated.  Manifestly,  to  under- 
stand a  foreign  literature  we  must  understand  the  language 
in  which  it  is  written.  How  few  of  our  students  really  do! 
Moreover,  language  and  literature  are  ultimately  only  parts 
of  one  indivisible  entity:  Philology  —  though  the  fact 
often  escapes  us.  "  The  most  effective  work,"  said  Gilder- 
sleeve,^  "  is  done  by  those  who  see  all  in  the  one  as  well 
as  one  in  the  all."  And  strange  as  it  appears  to  the  laity, 
a  linguistic  fact  may  convey  a  universal  lesson.  I  hesitate 
to  generalize,  but  I  believe  most  of  our  colleges  need  to 
emphasize  the  language  side  of  the  French  "major"  more. 

As  for  Italian  and  Spanish,  few  of  the  colleges  as  yet    Seiativo 

,  ,  .  ,       .  .  T-  1         T-         positions  of 

grant  these  subjects  the  importance  given  to  rrench.     ror    French, 

one  reason,  entrance  credit  in  Italian  is  extremely  rare,  i^^n^in^^ 
and  neither  there  nor  in  Spanish,  in  which  it  is  now  rather  coUege 
common,  owing  to  the  teaching  of  Spanish  in  the  high 
schools,  does  it  exceed  two  units.  Some  work  of  an  ele- 
mentary nature  must  therefore  be  done  in  the  college;  in- 
deed, at  Amherst  neither  language  can  be  begun  until  the 
sophomore  year  —  though  fortunately  this  is  an  isolated 
case.  Further,  even  when  the  college  is  prepared  to  teach 
these  subjects  adequately,  it  is  still  a  debatable  question 
whether  they  are  entitled  to  precisely  the  same  considera- 
tion as  their  more  venerable  sister.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
point  out  that  such  great  names  as  Dante,  Petrarch,  Boccac- 
cio, Alfieri,  Leopardi,  Carducci,  Cervantes,  Calderon,  Lope 
de  Vega,  Benavente,  e  tutti  quanti,  are  abundant  evidence  of 
the  value  of  Italian  and  Spanish  culture.  They  unquestion- 
ably are.  Where  the  emphasis  is  cultural,  it  would  cer- 
tainly be  unwise  to  neglect  Italian,  since  the  Renaissance 
is  Italian  and  underlies  modern  European  culture  in  gen- 
eral. On  the  other  hand,  Spanish  is,  so  to  speak,  at  our 
very  doors  because  of  our  island  possessions:  it  is  the  one 
foreign  language  which  calls  for  no  argument  to  make 
the  undergraduate  willing  to  learn  to  speak,  and  Spanish 

'  From  Johns  Hopkins  University  Circular,  No.  151. 


434  College  Teaching 

literature,  especially  in  the  drama,  has  the  same  romantic 
freedom  as  English  literature  and  is  thus  readily  ac- 
cessible to  the  American  type  of  mind.  Pedagogical ly, 
thus,  the  question  is  far  from  simple.  But  while  it  is  im- 
possible to  lay  down  any  fixed  precept,  it  seems  worth 
while  to  remember:  that  the  French  genius  is  preeminently 
the  vehicle  of  definite  and  clear  ideas,  that  in  a  very  real 
sense  France  has  been  and  is  the  intellectual  clearing- 
house of  the  world,  and  that  potentially,  at  least,  her  civili- 
zation is  of  the  greatest  value  to  our  intellectually  dull  and 
undiscriminating  youth.  From  French,  better  than  from 
Italian  and  Spanish,  he  can  learn  the  discipline  of  accurate 
expression,  of  clear  articulation,  and  the  enlightenment 
that  springs  from  contact  with  "  general  ideas."  More- 
over, we  must  not  forget  that  the  undergraduate's  time  is 
limited  and  that  under  the  "  group  system  "  some  discrim- 
ination must  necessarily  be  made.  Granted,  then,  that,  all 
things  considered,  the  first  place  will  doubtless  be  left  to 
French,  the  question  remains  whether  the  attention  given 
to  Spanish  and  Italian  is  at  least  adequate.  And  do  the 
colleges  extract  from  them  the  values  they  should? 

As  a  general  proposition,  we  may  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  college  should  offer  at  least  four  units  in  each  of 
these  subjects.  For  Spanish,  certainly,  the  tendency  will 
be  to  make  the  proportion  larger.  But  two  units  devoted  to 
learning  the  language  and  two  devoted  to  th?  literature 
may  be  regarded  as  essential,  and  are  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  common  practice.  Several  illustrations  will  make  this 
clear.  Johns  Hopkins  offers:  in  Italian,  1.  Grammar, 
Short  Stories,  etc.,  2.  Grammar,  Written  Exercises,  Selec- 
tions from  classic  authors.  Lectures  on  Italian  Literature; 
in  Spanish,  1.  Grammar,  Oral  and  written  exercises,  Read- 
ing from  Alarcon,  Valdes,  etc.,  2.  Contemporary  Novel 
and  Drama,  Oral  practice.  Grammar  and  Composition,  3. 
The  Classic  Drama  and  Cervantes,  oral  practice,  etc., 
History  of  Spanish  Literature.  Illinois:  in  Italian,  la-lb 
Elementary  Course,  2a-2b  Italian  Literature,  nineteenth 
century;     in    Spanish,    la-lb    Elementary    Course,    2a-2b 


Teaching  of  the  Romance  Languages     435 

Modern  Spanish,  3a-3b  Introduction  to  Spanish  Literature, 
4a-4b  Business  Correspondence  and  Conversation,  5a-5b 
Business  Practice  in  Spanish,  lla-llb  The  Spanish  Drama 
of  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centuries,  17a-17b  The 
Spanish  Drama  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  Harvard:  in 
Italian,  1.  Italian  Grammar,  reading  and  composition,  4. 
General  View  of  Italian  Literature,  5,  Modern  Italian 
Literature,  2.  Italian  Literature  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Six- 
teenth Centuries,  10.  The  Works  of  Dante;  in  Spanish, 
1.  Spanish  Grammar,  reading  and  composition,  7.  Spanish 
Composition,  8.  Spanish  Composition  and  Conversation 
(advanced  course),  4.  General  View  of  Spanish  Literature, 
5.  Spanish  Prose  and  Poetry  of  the  Eighteenth  and  Nine- 
teenth Centuries,  2.  Spanish  Literature  of  the  Sixteenth  and 
Seventeenth  Centuries.^ 

Since  Spanish  and  Italian  fall  into  the  department  of 
Romance  languages,  in  order  to  make  up  his  "  major " 
the  student  is  at  present  compelled  to  combine  them  with 
French.  On  the  whole,  this  arrangement  appears  to  me 
wise.  To  be  sure,  the  deans  of  our  colleges  of  commerce 
and  administration  will  say  that,  granting  the  greater  cul- 
tural value  of  French,  the  business  interests  of  the  country 
will  force  us  nevertheless  to  give  Spanish  the  same  place 
in  the  curriculum  as  French.  And  the  more  radical  edu- 
cators will  affirm  with  Mr.  Flexner:  -  "Languages  have 
no  value  in  themselves;  they  exist  solely  for  the  purpose 
of  communicating  ideas  and  abbreviating  our  thought  and 
action  processes.  If  studied,  they  are  valuable  only  in  so  far 
as  they  are  practically  mastered  —  not  otherwise."  I  have 
taken  a  stand  against  this  matter-of-fact  conception  of  edu- 
cation throughout  this  chapter.     I  may  now  return  to  the 

^  It  will  be  noted  that  throughout  the  amount  offered  in  Spanish  ex- 
ceeds that  in  Italian.  This  is  to  be  expected  in  view  of  the  boom 
in  Spanish  studies.  Moreover,  most  colleges  now  allow  two  units 
of  entrance  credit  in  Spanish,  and  7  and  8  above,  under  Harvard, 
are  half  courses.  Columbia  is.  I  believe,  the  only  college  accepting 
2  units  of  entrance  credit  in  Italian;  but  I  have  not  examined  the 
catalogues  of  all  our  colleges. 

-  Publications  of  the  General  Education  Board,  3,  1916,  page  13. 


436 


College  Teaching 


Training 
teachers  of 
Romance 
Languages 


charge  by  adding  that  the  banality  of  our  college  students* 
thinking  stares  us  in  the  face;  if  we  wish  to  quicken  it, 
to  refine  it,  we  should  have  them  study  other  media  of  ex- 
pression qua  expression  besides  their  own  (that  is  what 
Europe  did  in  the  Renaissance,  and  the  example  of  the 
Renaissance  is  still  pertinent) ;  that  if  Mr.  Flexner's  reason- 
ing were  valid  the  French  might  without  detriment  convey 
their  "  ideas  "  in  Volapiik  or  Ido  ( I  suggest  that  Mr.  Flex- 
ner  subject  Anatole  France  to  this  test) ;  and  that  in- 
stead of  being  valueless  in  themselves,  on  the  contrary, 
languages  are  the  repositories  of  the  ages:  "We  infer," 
said  Emerson,  "  the  spirit  of  the  nation  in  great  measure 
from  the  language,  which  is  a  sort  of  monument  in  which 
each  forcible  individual  in  the  course  of  many  hundred 
years  has  contributed  a  stone."  In  other  words,  however 
great  the  claim  of  Spanish  as  "  a  practical  subject "  may 
be  and  whatever  concessions  our  schools  and  colleges 
may  make  to  this  fact,  I  still  believe  that  Spanish  should  be 
subordinated  as  a  college  subject  to  the  study  of  French. 
In  principle  we  may  admit  the  Spanish  "major,"  as  in 
fact  we  do  at  present  with  the  Italian  "major";  but  some 
knowledge  of  French  on  the  part  of  the  student  should  be 
presupposed,  or  if  not,  it  should  be  a  required  part  of  the 
Spanish  sequence.  This  may  seem  extreme,  but  in  reality 
few  students  would  wish  to  proceed  far  in  Spanish  with- 
out some  French,  and,  practically,  the  knowledge  of  one 
Romance  tongue  is  always  a  great  aid  in  the  study  of 
another. 

Thus  we  see  that,  with  the  addition  here  and  there  of 
an  extra  course  (where  the  college  is  not  up  to  the  standard 
as  we  have  outlined  it),  and  an  added  stress  on  the  ad- 
vanced linguistics,  the  present  curriculum  in  Romance  ap- 
parently provides  an  excellent  working  basis.  If  properly 
carried  out  —  and  the  success  of  all  teaching  depends 
of  course  ultimately  on  the  teacher  —  it  ought  to  fulfill  all 
legitimate  needs,  so  far  as  the  strictly  collegiate  aims  are 
concerned. 

A  word  is  now  in  order  as  to  its  fitness  for  those  students 


Teaching  of  the  Romance  Languages     437 

who  are  planning  to  take  Romance  as  a  profession.  Nor- 
mally these  students  would  coincide  with  those  who  are  tak- 
ing up  "  special  honors  "  in  Romance  languages ;  and  for  the 
latter  group  most  of  our  colleges  now  make  special  pro- 
vision —  in  the  form  of  "  independent  work  done  outside 
the  regular  courses  in  the  major  subject  and  at  least  one 
other  department  during  the  junior  and  senior  year  (Wis- 
consin)," or  as  Amherst  states  it,  "special  work  involving 
collateral  reading  or  investigation  under  special  condi- 
tions." In  general,  this  gives  the  candidate  certain  profes- 
sional options  among  the  courses  listed  (in  cases  where  the 
college  is  part  of  the  university)  as  "  primarily  for  gradu- 
ates." In  this  way  the  student  is  able  to  add  to  his 
"major"  such  subjects  as  Old  French  (Chicago),  Intro- 
duction to  Romance  Philology  (Columbia),  Practical 
Phonetics  (Chicago),  a  Teachers'  Course  (Wisconsin), 
etc.  Personally  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  day  has 
passed  when  any  of  our  graduates  who  has  not  at  least 
a  Master's  degree  in  Romance  should  be  recommended  to  a 
teaching  position.  But  evidently  any  such  hard  and  fast 
rule  is  bound  to  be  unfair,  especially  since  a  large  per- 
centage of  our  students  is  compelled  to  earn  a  living  im- 
mediately upon  graduation.  Thus  here  again  —  as  in  the 
elementary  courses  as  now  given  in  the  colleges  —  we  are 
confronted  with  a  makeshift  which  only  time  and  continued 
effort  can  correct.  In  the  meantime  the  value  of  such  pro- 
fessional courses  depends  to  a  very  marked  degree  upon 
the  success  with  which  they  can  be  carried  out:  where  they 
are  counted  toward  a  higher  degree  (M.A.  or  Ph.D.)  the 
difficulty  is  not  so  great,  since  their  introductory  nature  is 
self-evident;  but  where  they  conclude,  so  to  speak,  the 
student's  formal  training  the  difficulty  of  making  them  "  fit 
in  "  is  often  sadly  apparent.  At  any  rate,  in  this  border- 
land between  cultural  and  professional  studies,  where  the 
college  is  merging  with  the  university  or  professional 
school,  the  necessity  for  the  able  teacher  is  a  paramount 
issue.  If  the  transition  is  to  be  successful,  the  obligation 
rests  upon  the  teacher  so  to  develop  his  subject  that  the 


438 


College  Teaehing 


Final  con- 
tributions 
of  Romance 
Languages 
to  the 
American 
college 
student 


specializing  will  not  drown  out  the  general  interest  but 
will  inform  it  with  those  values  which  only  the  specialist 
can  impart. 

And  now  as  to  our  final  consideration:  What  partic- 
ular advantages  have  the  Romance  tongues  to  offer  as  a 
college  subject?  An  obvious  advantage  is:  an  understand- 
ing of  foreign  peoples.  The  Romance  languages  are 
modern.  They  are  spoken  today  over  a  large  part  of  the 
habitable  globe.  We  stand  in  direct  relations  with  those 
who  speak  them  and  write  them.  Above  all,  a  large  share 
of  the  world's  best  thought  is  being  expressed  in  them. 
The  point  requires  no  arguing,  that  translations  cannot  take 
the  place  of  originals:  traduttore  traditore,  says  an  ex- 
cellent Italian  proverb.  If  we  are  really  to  know  what 
other  nations  think, —  whether  we  accept  or  reject  their 
thought  makes  little  or  no  difference  here, —  we  can  do  so 
only  by  knowing  their  language.  And  the  better  we  know 
it,  the  greater  our  insight  will  be.  To  speak  at  least  one 
foreign  language  is  not  only  a  parlor  accomplishment: 
it  is  for  whoever  is  to  be  a  citizen-of-the-world  a  necessity. 
There  is  a  Turkish  proverb  that  he  who  knows  two  lan- 
guages, his  own  and  another,  has  two  souls.  Certainly 
there  is  no  better  way  to  approach  a  nation's  soul  than 
through  its  language.  But,  in  the  second  place,  the  Ro- 
mance tongues  have  certain  artistic  qualities  which  English 
in  a  great  measure  lacks.  The  student  who  has  intelli- 
gently mastered  one  of  them  has  a  better  sense  of  form, 
of  delicate  shades  of  expression,  and  —  if  the  language  be 
French  —  of  clarity  of  phrase:  what  Pater  termed  netlete 
d* expression.  He  learns  to  respect  language  (as  few 
Americans  now  do),  to  study  its  possibilities  in  a  way 
which  a  mere  knowledge  of  English  might  never  have 
suggested,  and  to  appreciate  its  moral  as  well  as  its  social 
power:  for  French  forces  him  to  curb  his  thought,  to  weigh 
his  contention,  to  be  simple  and  clear  in  the  most  abstruse 
matters.  In  a  famous  essay  on  the  Universality  of  French, 
Rivarol  said:  "  Une  traduction  frangaise  est  toujours  une 
explication." 

And  lastly,  in  themselves  and  in  the  civilizations  they 


Teaching  of  the  Uomance  Languages     439 

stand  for,  the  Romance  tongues  are  the  bridge  between 
ourselves  and  antiquity.  Since  the  decline  in  the  study  of 
Greek  and  Latin,  this  is  a  factor  to  be  seriously  considered. 
It  is  the  fashion  today  to  berate  the  past,  to  speak  of  the 
dead  hand  of  tradition,  and  to  flatter  ourselves  with  the 
delusion  of  self-sufficiency.  To  be  sure,  the  aim  of  edu- 
cation is  never  to  pile  up  information  but  to  "  fit  your 
mind  for  any  sort  of  exertion,  to  make  it  keen  and  flexible." 
But  the  best  way  to  encompass  this  is  to  feed  the  mind  on 
ideas,  and  ideas  are  not  produced  every  day,  nor  for  that 
matter  every  year,  and  luckily  all  ideas  have  not  the  same 
value.  There  are  the  ideas  of  Taine,  of  Rousseau,  of 
Voltaire,  of  Descartes,  of  Montaigne,  of  Ficino,  of 
Petrarch,  of  Dante,  of  Cicero,  of  Aristotle,  of  Plato;  and  in 
a  moment  I  have  run  the  gamut  of  all  the  centuries  of  our 
Western  civilization.  Who  will  tell  me  which  ideas  we 
shall  need  most  tomorrow?  Evidently,  we  cannot  know 
them  all.  But  we  can  at  least  make  the  attempt  to  know 
the  best.  And  incidentally  let  it  be  said  that  he  who  pro- 
fesses the  Romance  tongues  can  no  more  dispense  with  the 
Classics  than  the  Classics  can  today  aff'ord  to  dispense 
with  Romance:  French  Italian,  and  Spanish  are  the  Latin 
—  and  one  might  add  the  Greek  —  of  today.  But  to  return 
to  our  theme:  to  deny  our  interest  in  the  past  is  to  throw 
away  our  heritage,  to  sell  our  mess  of  pottage  to  the 
lowest  bidder.  If  the  Romance  languages  have  one  func- 
tion in  our  American  colleges,  it  is  this:  To  keep  alive 
the  old  humanistic  lesson:  nihil  humani  a  me  alienum 
puto;  to  the  end  that  the  modern  college  graduate  may  con- 
tinue to  say  with  Montaigne:  "All  moral  philosophy  is 
applied  as  well  to  a  private  life  as  to  one  of  the  greatest 
employment.  Every  man  carries  the  entire  form  of  the 
human  condition.  Authors  have  thitherto  communicated 
themselves  to.  the  people  by  some  particular  and  foreign 
mark;  I  ...  by  my  universal  being,  not  as  a  grammarian, 
a  poet,  or  a  lawyer."  The  college  course  in  the  Romance 
languages  should  prepare  for  a  profession,  but  it  must 
first  help  to  prepare  thinking  men  and  women. 

William  A.  Nitze 

University  of  Chicago 


Oar  aim 


XXII 
THE  TEACHING  OF  GERMAN 

THE  mechanical  achievements  of  the  nineteenth  and 
twentieth  centuries  have  obliterated  geographical 
distances.  The  contact  between  nations,  intermittent  in 
former  ages,  has  become  a  continuous  one.  It  is  no  longer 
possible  to  ignore  great  cultural  forces  in  foreign  nations 
even  temporarily  —  we  may  repudiate  or  appreciate  them, 
as  we  see  fit,  but  we  should  do  so  in  a  spirit  of  fairness 
and  understanding,  and  not  in  ignorance. 

This,  however,  is  not  possible  unless  those  who  are  to 
become  leaders  of  the  people  are  intimately  familiar  with 
those  treasure  chests  of  the  nations  that  contain  the  true 
gems  of  racial  spirit  more  abundantly  than  even  art  or 
literature,  history,  law  or  religion,  stored  up  in  the  course 
of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  years  —  the  nations'  lan- 
guages. It  is  the  clear  duty  of  the  college  to  instill, 
through  the  right  way  of  teaching  foreign  languages,  a 
cosmopolitan  spirit  of  this  character  into  the  growing 
minds  of  our  young  men  and  women,  after  the  secondary 
school  has  given  them  the  first  rudiments  of  knowledge  and 
cultural  training. 

According  to  one's  point  of  view,  there  is  as  much  to 
be  said  in  favor  of  the  classical  as  the  modern  languages. 
Without  doubt,  their  growing  neglect  in  our  institutions 
of  learning  is  deeply  to  be  regretted;  however,  its  causes 
do  not  concern  us  here  directly.  The  study  of  modern 
languages  is,  relatively  speaking,  so  manifestly  in  the 
ascendency,  that  a  return  to  the  emphasis  that  was  formerly 
laid  upon  Latin  and  Greek  is  hardly  imaginable.  The 
choice  between  several  modern  languages  must  very  largely 
be  determined  by  personal  preferences  and  purposes.  So 
much,  however,  can  safely  be  said,  that  an  intelligent  read- 
ing knowledge  of  German  and  French  is  the  least  that 
should  be  expected  of  a  college  graduate.     For,  while  in 

440 


The  Teaching  of  German  441 

theory  the  humanistic  importance  of  modern  language  study 
is  the  same  for  all  languages,  it  rises,  in  practice,  proportion- 
ately with  the  cultural  level  of  the  foreign  nation  — 
German  and  French  obviously  taking  the  lead  in  this  regard. 

I  am  optimistic  enough  to  assume  it  to  be  generally  ^J^J!.'|« 
granted  that  the  study  of  a  foreign  language  ought  to  be  thecouego 
started  early  in  life  —  say,  at  the  age  of  twelve.  While  *^""*^'""* 
hardly  challenged  in  theory,  this  desirable  condition  is 
far  from  being  carried  out  in  practice.  Probably  the  time 
will  never  come  when  colleges  will  be  able  to  dispense 
with  elementary  courses  in  modern  foreign  languages  — 
not  only  for  those  who  enter  without  any  linguistic  prepa- 
ration, but  also,  and  perhaps  preeminently,  for  students 
who  are  taking  up  a  second  foreign  language  in  addition 
to  the  one  (or  two)  started  in  the  preparatory  school. 
Thus,  the  starting  point  of  the  modern  language  course  in 
college  is  easily  fixed:  it  must  begin  at  the  very  rudiments 
of  the  language.  Nor  is  it  difificult  to  state,  in  general 
terms,  the  purpose  of  the  most  advanced  work  of  the  un- 
dergraduate curriculum:  it  must  consist  in  adequate  lin- 
guistic skill,  literary  knowledge  and  feeling,  and  cultural 
understanding  to  such  an  extent  that  the  college  graduate 
who  has  specialized  in  German  may  safely  be  intrusted  with 
the  teaching  of  German  in  secondary  schools.  At  least, 
this  holds  good  for  the  majority  of  institutions;  a  small 
number  of  colleges  devote  their  whole  effort  to  cultural 
training,  and  some  of  the  larger  institutions,  particularly 
in  the  East,  find  it  possible  to  postpone  most  of  the  pro- 
fessional preparation  to  a  period  of  graduate  work.  But 
on  the  whole  the  average  well-equipped  college  includes  the 
training  of  teachers  as  one  end  of  its  foreign-language  work. 
Ordinarily,  such  mastery  of  the  subject  as  would  prepare 
for  teaching  cannot  be  gained  within  the  four  years'  col- 
lege course.  Rather,  it  might  be  said  to  require  the  aver- 
age equivalent  of  something  like  six  college  years,  with  the 
understanding  that  not  much  more  than  one  fourth  of  the 
student's  time  be  devoted  to  German.  This  implies  that 
only    under     uncommonly     favorable    conditions    should 


442 


College  Teaching 


Organiza- 
tion of  the 
Oerman 
course 


Students  be  encouraged  to  specialize  in  a  foreign  language 
that  they  begin  on  entering  college. 

Thus,  the  peculiar  conditions  of  modern  language  in 
struction  bring  it  about  that  a  discussion  of  its  organi 
zation  in  college  must  deal  with  a  six  years'  course:  ele 
mentary  instruction  must  be  offered  to  those  entering  with 
out  any  knowledge  of  German;  courses  of  a  sufi&ciently  ad 
vanced  character  must  be  provided  for  those  who  enter 
with  three  or  four  years  of  high-school  German;  and  there 
must  be  advanced  work  for  students  who  intend  to  make 
the  study  and  teaching  of  German  their  life's  work. 

In  this  six  years'  college  course  three  divisions  are  clearly 
distinguishable:  an  elementary  division  devoted  to  such  lin- 
guistic training  as  will  enable  a  student  to  read  with  fair 
ease  texts  of  moderate  difficulty;  an  intermediate  group 
during  which  literary  and  cultural  appreciation  should  be 
developed,  and  an  advanced  group  intended  for  the  pro- 
fessional preparation  of  prospective  teachers  of  German. 
These  three  divisions  may  be  approximately  equal,  so  that 
each  of  them  covers  about  two  years,  with  four  or  five  hours 
a  week.  For  graduation,  all  students  should  be  required 
to  present  the  equivalent  of  the  first  period  for  two  lan- 
guages (either  classical  or  modern),  one  or  both  of  which 
might  with  advantage  be  absolved  in  high  school.  The 
second  division  should  be  required  of  all  students  for  at 
least  one  foreign  language.  Colleges  of  high  standing  may 
find  it  possible  to  exceed  these  requirements;  no  college 
should  remain  below  them. 

The  first  or  elementary  division  should,  at  least  for  one 
foreign  language,  be  finished  before  the  student  is  admitted 
to  the  college.  All  that  can  reasonably  be  expected  from 
this  part  of  the  work  is  a  study  of  the  elements  of  grammar, 
the  development  of  a  good  pronunciation,  a  fair  working 
vocabulary,  and  some  ability  to  read,  speak,  understand, 
and  write  German. 

The  second  group  should  include,  in  the  main,  reading 
courses  to  introduce  the  student  to  what  is  best  in  German 
literature,  but  no  general  theoretical  study  of  the  history 


The  Teaching  of  German  443 

of  literature  need  be  contemplated.  Besides,  it  must  offer 
such  work  in  speaking  and  writing  as  will  develop  and 
establish  more  firmly  the  results  gained  in  the  first  two 
years,  and  an  appropriate  study  of  German  history  and 
institutions.  Each  of  the  three  aims  might  be  given  about 
one  third  of  the  time  available,  but  they  may  overlap  to 
some  extent.  Thus,  writing  and  speaking  can  be  connected 
with  each  of  them,  and  historical  readings  and  reports 
may  furnish  a  part  of  language  practice. 

The  third  group,  intended  for  the  training  of  teachers, 
must  contain  a  course  in  the  method  of  modem  language 
teaching  (connected  with  observation  and  practice),  an  ad- 
vanced grammar  course,  and  courses  in  the  phonetics  and 
historical  development  of  the  German  language.  These 
courses  are  indispensable  for  teachers,  but  will  also  be  of 
advantage  to  students  not  intending  to  teach. 

The  first  group  is  frankly  of  high  school  character.  It  '^*>••^•- 
is  best  to  admit  this  fully  and  freely,  and  to  teach  these  group 
courses  accordingly.  Through  greater  intensity  of  study 
(more  home  work  and  longer  class  periods),  the  work  of 
three  or  even  four  high  school  years  may  be  concentrated 
into  two  college  years,  but  the  method  cannot  differ  essen- 
tially. The  way  of  learning  a  new  language  is  the  same, 
in  principle,  for  a  child  of  twelve  years  and  a  man  of  fifty 
years;  in  the  latter  case,  there  is  merely  the  difficulty  to  be 
overcome  that  older  persons  are  less  easily  inclined  to  sub- 
mit to  that  drill  which  is  necessary  for  the  establishment 
of  those  new  habits  that  constitute  Sprachgefiihl.  It  is  a 
fallacy  that  the  maturer  mind  of  the  college  student  re- 
quires a  more  synthetic-deductive  study  of  the  language 
than  that  of  the  high  school  student. 

It  is  sad  but  true  that  many  cojlege  teachers  are  more 
reactionary  in  questions  of  method  than  the  better  class  of 
high  school  teachers.  The  claim  that  elementary  work  in 
college  requires  a  method  different  from  that  used  in  the 
high  school  is  one  symptom  of  this,  and  another  symptom 
of  the  same  tendency  is  the  motto  of  so  many  college 
teachers  that  there  is  no  "  best  method,"  and  that  a  good 


444  College  Teaching 

teacher  will  secure  good  results  with  any  method.  At  the 
bottom  of  such  phrases  there  is  usually  not  much  more  than 
indifference  and  unwillingness  to  look  for  information  on 
the  real  character  of  the  method  at  which  they  are  generally 
aimed:  the  direct  method.  The  regrettable  superficiality 
appearing  in  the  frequent  confusion  of  the  "  direct "  with 
the  "  natural "  method  is  characteristic  of  this.  I  am,  of 
course,  willing  to  admit  that  what  nowadays  is  termed  the 
"  direct  method  "  is  not  the  best  way  possible,  but  that  it 
may  and  will  be  improved  upon.  However,  it  is  not  one 
of  many  methods  that,  according  to  circumstances,  might 
be  equally  good,  but  it  represents  the  application  of 
the  present  results  of  psychological  and  linguistic  research 
to  the  teaching  of  languages  and  distinctly  deserves  the 
preference  over  older  ways. 

The  first  demand  of  the  direct  method  is  the  development 
not  only  of  a  fair  but  of  a  perfect  pronunciation  —  not 
so  much  as  the  independent  aim,  but  as  an  indispensable 
condition  for  the  development  of  Sprachgefiihl.  It  is 
immeasurably  easier  to  obtain  good  pronunciation  from 
the  start  than  to  improve  bad  pronunciation  by  later  efforts. 
In  the  teaching  of  pronunciation  a  slight  difference  in  the 
treatment  of  children  of  twelve  years  and  of  college  students 
might  be  granted:  young  children  are  generally  able  to 
learn  the  sounds  of  a  foreign  language  by  imitation;  students 
of  college  age  can  hardly  ever  do  this  well,  and  careful 
phonetic  instruction  is  absolutely  necessary  with  them. 
Whoever  wishes  to  keep  aloof  from  phonetic  terms  may  do 
so;  but  not  to  know  or  not  to  apply  phonetic  principles  is 
bad  teaching  pure  and  simple.  The  use  of  phonetic  tran- 
scription, however,  is  a  moot  question.  Its  advantages  are 
obvious  enough:  it  insures  a  clear  consciousness  of  correct 
pronunciation;  it  takes  up  the  difficulties  one  by  one:  first 
pronunciation,  then  spelling;  it  safeguards  greater  care  in 
matters  of  pronunciation  in  general.  The  objections  are 
chiefly  two:  economy  of  time,  and  the  fear  of  confusion 
between  the  two  ways  of  spelling.  The  writer  admits  that 
until  a  few  years  ago  he  was  skeptical  as  to  the  value  of 


The  Teaching  of  German  445 

phonetic  transcription  in  the  teaching  of  German.  But  the 
nearly  general  recognition  of  its  value  by  the  foremost 
educators  of  European  countries  and  the  good  results 
achieved  with  it  by  teachers  of  French  in  this  country 
caused  him  to  give  it  a  trial,  under  conditions  that  afforded 
not  more  than  an  average  chance  of  success.  The  result 
was  greatly  beyond  his  expectations.  Neither  he  nor,  as 
far  as  he  knows,  any  of  his  colleagues  would  contemplate 
abandoning  phonetic  script  again.  Without  wishing  to  be 
dogmatic,  I  believe  that  this  at  least  can  be  asserted  with 
safety:  on  purely  theoretical  grounds,  no  teacher  has  a  right 
to  condemn  phonetic  transcription;  those  who  doubt  its 
value  should  try  it  before  they  judge. 

In  the  writer's  opinion  it  is  best  not  to  use  any  histor- 
ical spelling  at  all  during  the  first  six  or  eight  weeks  of 
college  German.  If  the  confusing  features  of  traditional 
orthography  are  eliminated  during  this  period,  it  will  be 
found  that  there  results  not  a  loss,  but  an  actual  gain  in 
time  from  the  use  of  phonetic  script.  Nor  does  the  tran- 
sition to  common  spelling  cause  any  confusion.  The  less 
ado  made  about  it,  the  better.  It  is  a  fact  of  experience, 
that  students  who  have  been  trained  in  the  use  of  phonetic 
script  turn  out  to  be  better  spellers  than  those  who  have  not 
—  simply  because  this  training  has  made  them  more  careful 
and  has  given  them  a  clearer  conception  of  the  discrep- 
ancy between  sound  and  letter. 

That  elementary  grammar  should  be  taught  inductively 
is  true  to  an  extent,  but  often  overstated.  It  is  true  for  the 
more  abstract  principles,  such  as  the  formation  of  the  com- 
pound tenses,  the  formation  and  the  use  of  the  passive 
voice,  and  so  on.  But  attempts  at  inductive  teaching  of 
concrete  elements  of  mechanical  memory,  such  as  the  gen- 
der and  plural  of  nouns,  or  the  principal  parts  of  strong 
verbs,  are  a  misunderstanding  of  the  principles  of  induc- 
tion. It  goes  without  saying  that  thorough  drill  is  much 
more  valuable  than  the  most  explicit  explanation.  It  holds 
good  for  college  as  well  as  for  high  schools  that  there  is 
but  very  little  to  "  explain  "  about  the  grammar  of  any 


English 


446  College  Teaching 

language.     Unnecessary  explanations  rather  increase  than 
remove  difficulties. 
The  use  of  The  use  of  English   is   another  debated   question.     As 

far  as  the  teaching  of  grammar  is  concerned,  it  is  unessen- 
tial. If  inductive  drill  takes  the  place  of  explanations  and 
abstract  rules,  the  question  is  very  largely  eliminated  from 
practical  consideration.  In  those  very  rare  cases  when 
theoretical  discussions  might  seem  desirable,  it  does  not 
make  much  difference  whether  a  few  minutes  a  week  are 
devoted  to  English  or  not.  The  question  assumes  greater 
importance  when  the  development  of  the  vocabulary  is  con- 
sidered. In  this,  there  are  three  fairly  well-defined  ele- 
ments to  be  distinguished.  The  first  vocabulary,  say,  of 
the  first  two  or  three  months  should  be  developed  by  con- 
crete associations  with  objects  and  actions  in  the  class- 
room; the  use  of  the  vernacular  has  no  justification  what- 
ever during  that  time  —  not  on  account  of  any  objection 
to  an  occasional  English  word  or  phrase,  but  simply  because 
there  is  no  need  of  it,  and  every  minute  devoted  to  Ger- 
man is  a  clear  gain.  After  this,  the  vocabulary  should  be 
further  developed  through  the  thorough  practice  of  con- 
nected texts.  If  they  are  well  constructed,  the  context 
will  explain  a  considerable  portion  of  the  words  occur- 
ring; those  that  are  not  made  clear  through  the  context 
form  the  third  division  of  the  vocabulary  and  can  with- 
out hesitation  be  explained  by  English  equivalents.  In 
general,  the  principle  will  go  rather  far  that  the  use  of  an 
occasional  English  word  is  entirely  harmless,  but  that 
English  sentences  should  as  much  as  possible  be  avoided 
in  elementary  work.  Connected  translation,  both  from  and 
into  English,  must  absolutely  be  excluded  from  the  first 
year's  work,  for  the  chief  purpose  of  this  year  is  not  only 
the  study  of  grammar  and  the  development  of  an  elemen- 
tary vocabulary,  but,  even  more  than  that,  the  cultivation 
of  the  right  attitude  toward  language  study.  Reading 
should  be  our  chief  aim,  and  speaking  a  means  to  that  end, 
but  the  student  must  be  trained,  from  the  very  beginning,  to 
understand  what  he  is  reading  rather  through  an  intelli- 


The  Teaching  of  German  4f4i7 

gent  grasp  of  the  contents  than  by  fingering  the  dictionary. 
In  this  way  he  will  become  accustomed  to  associating  the 
German  sentences  directly  with  the  thought  expressed  in 
them,  instead  of  indirectly  through  the  medium  of  his  na- 
tive tongue. 

A  great  deal  of  misunderstanding  is  frequently  involved 
in  the  emphasis  laid  upon  speaking.  There  can  hardly  be 
a  more  absurd  misinterpretation  of  the  principles  of  the 
direct  method  than  for  college  teachers  to  try  to  "  con- 
verse "  with  the  students  in  German  —  to  have  with  them 
German  chats  about  the  weather,  the  games,  the  political 
situation.  This  procedure  is  splendidly  fit  to  develop  in  the 
students  a  habii  of  guessing  at  random  at  what  they  hear 
and  read  —  a  slovenly  contentedness  with  an  approximate 
understanding.  Both  teacher  and  students  should  speak 
and  hear  German  practically  all  the  time.  But  this  should 
be  distinctly  in  the  service  of  reading  and  grammar  work, 
containing  almost  exclusively  words  and  forms  that  the  stu- 
dent must  know,  not  guess  at. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  a  college  student  ought  to 
have  mastered  the  elements  of  grammar  and  possess  good 
pronunciation  and  an  active  vocabulary  of  about  six  hun- 
dred or  eight  hundred  words.  If  the  second  year  is  de- 
voted to  further  drill  on  grammatical  elements  and  to  care- 
ful reading,  its  result  ought  to  be  the  ability  to  read  authors 
of  average  diflBcuIty  at  a  fair  speed.  During  the  first  year 
all  reading  material  should  be  practiced  so  intensively 
that  an  average  of  a  little  more  than  a  page  a  week  is  not 
exceeded  materially;  but  toward  the  end  of  the  second  year 
a  limit  of  six  or  eight  pages  an  hour  may  well  be  reached. 
By  this  time,  translation  into  good  English  begins  to  be  a 
valuable  factor  in  the  achievement  of  conscious  accuracy; 
but  it  must  under  no  circumstances  be  resorted  to  until 
the  students  have  clearly  obtained  the  habitual  attitude  of 
direct  association  between  thought  and  sentence. 

It  is  little  short  of  a  misfortune  that  there  exists  no 
adequate  German-German  dictionary  (such  as  La  Rousse's 
French  dictionary).     It  would  not  be  very  difficult  to  write 


448  College  Teaching 

such  a  book,  but  until  we  possess  it  the  irritating  use  of 
German-English  dictionaries  and  vocabularies  will  be  a 
necessary  evil. 

The  hardest  problem  of  the  second  year  —  and  this  is 
progressively  true  of  more  advanced  work  —  is  the  uneven 
preparation  of  the  students.  In  large  colleges  it  will  often 
be  feasible  to  have  as  many  sections  as  possible  at  the  same 
hour,  distributing  the  students  in  accordance  with  their 
preparation.  Where  this  is  not  possible,  special  help  for 
poorly  prepared  students  is  generally  indispensable. 
The  Tl^g  literature  group  is  as  distinctly  of  college  character 

groap  as  the  elementary  group  is  admittedly  high  school  work. 

It  is  here,  in  fact,  that  the  best  ideals  of  the  American  col- 
lege find  the  fullest  opportunity.  This  is  true  both  for  the 
teacher  and  for  the  student.  In  the  elementary  group, 
pedagogical  skill  and  a  fair  mastery  of  the  language  are 
the  chief  prerequisites  of  a  successful  teacher.  In  the  sec- 
ond group,  other  qualities  are  of  greater  importance. 
While  a  certain  degree  of  pedagogical  skill  is  just  as  nec- 
essary here  as  there,  it  is  now  no  longer  a  question  of  the 
systematic  development  of  habits,  but  of  the  ability  to 
create  sympathetic  understanding,  idealism,  depth  of  knowl- 
edge, and  literary  taste  —  in  short,  to  strive  for  humanistic 
education  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word.  This  is  true 
not  only  for  colleges  with  a  professedly  humanistic  ten- 
dency; the  broadening  and  deepening  influence  of  foreign 
language  study  is  nowhere  needed  more  urgently  than  in 
technical  and  other  professional  colleges. 

Speaking  and  writing  must  no  longer  stand  in  the  center 
of  instruction  in  the  courses  of  the  second  group,  but  their 
importance  should  not  be  underrated,  as  is  done  so  fre- 
quently (it  is  a  fact  that  students  often  know  less  Ger- 
man at  the  end  of  the  third  year  in  college  than  at  the  end 
of  the  second  year).  At  least  during  the  first  year  of  this 
group,  a  practice  course  in  advanced  grammar,  connected 
with  composition,  is  absolutely  necessary.  The  grammat- 
ical work  should  consist  in  review  and  observation,  sup- 
ported by  the  study  of  a  larger  reference  grammar  (e.g.. 


The  Teaching  of  German  449 

chapters  from  Curme's  grammar,  to  introduce  the  students 
to  the  consistent  use  of  this  marvelous  work).  In  compo- 
sition, free  reproduction  should  still  be  the  main  thing,  but 
independent  themes  and  translation  from  English  into  Ger- 
man —  which  would  be  distinctly  harmful  in  elementary 
work  —  are  now  valuable  exercises  in  the  study  of  German 
style.  It  would  be  wholly  wrong,  however,  to  make  linguis- 
tic drill  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  this  part  of  the  college 
course.  The  preparatory  years  should  have  laid,  a  sound 
basis,  which  during  the  college  work  proper  should  not 
be  allowed  to  disintegrate,  but  the  fact  should  not  be  lost 
sight  of  that  the  cultural  aim  must  be  stressed  most  in 
the  second  group. 

To  reach  this  aim,  a  familiarity  with  the  best  works 
of  German  literature  is  the  foremost  means.  German  litera- 
ture affords  a  scant  choice  of  good  and  easy  reading  for  the 
elementary  stage:  Storm,  Ebner-Eschenbach,  Seidel,  and 
Wildenbruch  are  justly  favorites,  but  absurdities  like  Baum- 
bach's  Schwiegersohn  are,  unfortunately,  still  found  in  the 
curriculum  of  many  colleges.  In  contrast  with  the  small 
number  of  good  elementary  texts,  there  exists  an  abundance 
of  excellent  material  for  the  second  group.  Aside  from 
the  classical  poets,  the  novelists  Keller,  Meyer,  Fontane, 
Raabe;  the  dramatists  Hebbel,  Grillparzer,  Kleist,  Haupt- 
mann;  poems  collected  in  the  Balladenbuch  or  the  Ernte 
present  an  inexhaustible  wealth,  without  our  having  to  re- 
sort to  the  literary  rubbish  of  Benedix  or  Moser  or  the 
sneering  pretentiousness  of  Heine's  Harzreise. 

The  details  of  organization  will  vary  greatly  for  this 
group,  according  to  special  conditions.  But  in  general 
it  may  be  said  that  during  the  first  year  of  this  period 
about  two  hours  a  week  should  be  devoted  to  the  continu- 
ation of  systematic  language  practice  as  outlined  above,  and 
three  hours  to  the  reading  of  German  authors  for  literary 
purposes.  Nor  should  this  consist  in  "  reading "  alone. 
Reading  as  such  should  no  longer  present  any  diflSculty,  if 
the  work  of  the  elementary  group  has  been  done  well. 
Special  courses  should  be  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  mod- 


450  College  Teacliing 

ern  German  novel,  the  drama,  and  the  lyrics,  and  to  in- 
dividual authors  like  those  mentioned.  In  these  detached 
literature  courses  the  principal  endeavor  must  be  to  help 
the  students  to  understand  and  feel,  not  so  much  the  lin- 
guistic side  of  the  texts  read,  as  the  soul  of  the  author,  and 
through  him  the  soul  of  the  German  nation.  Reading 
must  become  more  and  more  independent,  the  major  part 
of  the  time  in  class  being  devoted  to  the  cultural  and  aes- 
thetic interpretation  of  what  has  been  read  at  home.  It  is 
evident  that  in  this,  the  most  important  part  of  the  Ger- 
man college  work,  all  depends  upon  the  personality  of  the 
instructor:  literary  and  human  understanding  cannot  be  in- 
stilled into  the  student's  mind  by  one  who  does  not  possess 
them  himself,  together  with  a  love  for  teaching  and  the 
power  to  create  enthusiasm. 

All  other  requirements  must  be  subordinate  to  this-r- 
even  the  instructor's  mastery  of  the  language.  No  doubt, 
in  theory  it  would  be  most  desirable  that  German  be  the 
exclusive  language  of  instruction  throughout;  but  in  liter- 
ary courses  practical  considerations  will  so  often  speak 
against  this,  that  no  sweeping  answer  to  this  question  seems 
possible.  For  the  chief  aim  must  not  be  overshadowed  by 
any  other.  If  poor  preparation  on  the  part  of  the  students 
or  a  deficient  command  of  the  language  on  the  part  of  the 
instructor  makes  it  doubtful  whether  the  cultural  aim  can 
be  attained,  if  German  is  the  language  of  instruction, 
English  should  be  used  unhesitatingly.  This  implies  that 
for  this  part  of  the  work  an  instructor  with  a  strong  per- 
sonality and  an  artistic  understanding,  although  lacking  in 
speaking  knowledge,  is  far  preferable  to  one  who  speaks 
German  fluently  but  cannot  introduce  his  students  to  the 
greatness  of  German  literature  and  the  spirit  of  the  German 
people. 

On  the  other  hand,  written  reports  in  literary  courses 
should  always  be  required  to  be  in  German;  it  is  also  a 
good  plan  to  devote  a  few  minutes  of  each  period  to  pre- 
pared oral  reports,  in  German,  on  the  part  of  the  individual 
students.     Where  systematic  practice  in  the  colloquial  use  of 


The  Teaching  of  German  451 

the  language  is  desirable  for  special  reasons,  a  conversation 
course  may  be  established  in  addition  to  the  main  work,  but 
literary  courses  are  not  the  place  for  starting  conversational 
practice  with  classes  that  have  been  neglected  in  this  re- 
spect during  their  preparatory  work. 

The  second  year  of  the  literary  group  should  offer  a 
choice  between  two  directions  of  further  literary  develop- 
ment: about  three  hours  of  each  week  should  be  devoted 
either  to  a  course  on  the  general  history  of  German  litera- 
ture, or  to  the  intensive  study  of  one  of  the  greatest  fac- 
tors in  German  literature  —  such  as  Goethe's  Faust.  In 
large  institutions  both  courses  can  probably  be  given  side 
by  side,  the  students  taking  their  choice  according  to  their 
preference,  but  in  most  colleges  an  alternation  of  two 
courses  of  this  kind  will  be  preferable. 

The  method  of  instruction  is  determined  by  the  students' 
preparation  and  the  teacher's  personality,  in  literature 
courses  more  than  anything  else.  Obviously,  lectures  (in 
German,  where  circumstances  permit),  extensive,  systematic 
reading,  written  reports,  and  class  discussion  are  the  domi- 
nating features  of  such  courses. 

Some  knowledge  of  German  history  and  institutions  is 
an  indispensable  adjunct  of  any  serious  work  in  German 
literature.  Probably  in  all  colleges  such  instruction  will 
be  incumbent  upon  the  German  departments,  and  it  is 
rarely  possible  to  combine  it  with  the  course  on  the  gen- 
eral history  of  German  literature.  Therefore,  a  special 
course  in  German  history  and  institutions  should  be  offered 
during  the  second  year  of  the  literature  group. 

The  work  of  this  group  may  overlap  that  of  the  second    Tiioprofes- 
.,        ,  ,  .        ,  ,  slonal group 

group  to  a  considerable  extent,  in  the  sense  that  courses 

in  both  groups  may  be  taken  at  the  same  time.  The  pro- 
fessional preparation  of  a  teacher  of  German  should  in- 
clude: a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  the  Ger- 
man language,  an  appreciative  familiarity  with  German 
literature,  and  a  fair  amount  of  specialized  pedagogical 
training.  The  study  of  literature  cannot  be  different  for 
prospective  teachers  from  that  for  all  other  types  of  col- 


452  College  Teaching 

lege  students,  and,  therefore,  belongs  to  the  second  group. 
But  their  knowledge  of  language  structure,  though  not 
necessarily  of  a  specialistic  philological  character,  must  in- 
clude a  more  detailed  knowledge  of  German  grammar,  a 
familiarity  with  technical  German  phonetics,  and  at  least  an 
elementary  insight  into  the  historical  development  of  the  lan- 
guage. In  addition  to  suitable  courses  in  these  three  sub- 
jects, a  pedagogical  course,  dealing  with  the  methods  of 
modern  language  teaching,  and  connected  with  observation 
and  practice  teaching,  must  be  provided  for.  Where  the 
previous  training  has  been  neglected,  a  course  in  German 
conversation  may  be  added;  but,  generally  speaking,  this 
should  no  longer  be  necessary  with  students  in  their  fifth 
or  sixth  year  of  German  instruction.  Wherever  this  need 
exists,  the  system  of  instruction  is  at  fault. 
Conclusion  Incomplete  though  this  brief  outline  must  necessarily  be, 

the  writer  has  attempted  to  touch  upon  the  most  important 
phases  of  the  students'  development  of  linguistic,  cultural, 
and,  where  demanded,  professional  command  of  German. 
Little  has  so  far  been  said  concerning  the  college  teacher. 
The  strong  emphasis  placed  upon  the  direct  method  in  this 
article  should  not  be  misinterpreted  as  meaning  that  a  fluent 
command  of  the  spoken  language  is  a  conditio  sine  qua  non. 
Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  First  of  all,  the 
necessity  of  the  exclusive  use  of  the  direct  method  exists 
obviously  only  in  the  elementary  group.  In  this  group, 
however,  "  conversation  "  in  the  generally  accepted  sense 
of  the  word  should  not  be  attempted  —  it  will  do  more  harm 
than  good.  The  constant  practice  in  speaking  and  hearing 
should  be  so  rigidly  subservient  to  the  interpretation  and 
practice  of  the  texts  being  read  and  to  grammatical  drill, 
that  only  a  minimum  of  "  speaking  knowledge  "  on  the  part 
of  the  teacher  is  unavoidably  necessary;  his  pronunciation, 
of  course,  must  be  perfect.  However  desirable  it  may  be 
that  a  teacher  should  know  intimately  well  the  language 
he  is  teaching  in  college,  there  are  other  requirements  even 
higher  than  this;  they  are,  in  the  first  group,  energy, 
thoroughness,  and  pedagogical  skill,  coupled  with  an  in- 


The  Teaching  of  German  453 

telligent  understanding  of  the  basic  principles  of  the  direct 
method;  in  the  second  group,  literary  appreciation  and  a 
sympathetic  understanding  of  German  thought,  history,  and 
civilization;  and,  for  the  third  group,  elementary  philologi- 
cal training,  theoretical  as  well  as  practical  acquaintance 
with  the  needs  of  the  classroom,  and  a  long  and  varied  ex- 
perience in  teaching.  Rarely  will  all  three  qualifications 
be  combined  in  one  person,  nor  are  such  fortunate  combina- 
tions necessary  in  most  colleges.  A  wise  distribution  of 
courses  among  the  members  of  the  department  can  in  most 
cases  be  effected  in  such  a  way  that  each  teacher's  talents  are 
utilized  in  their  proper  places. 

E.  Prokosch 


PART  FIVE 
The  Arts 

CHAPTEB 

XXIII  The  Teaching  of  Music  Edward  Dickinson 

XXIV  The  Teaching  of  Art  Holmes  Smith 


XXIII 
THE  TEACHING  OF  MUSIC 

THERE  is  perhaps  no  more  direct  way  of  throwine  a  sort  Mnsic  a 
-  „     ,  ,r  ,  ,  .      ,  .    .        .        ,  1,  compara- 

of  Hashlighf  upon  the  musical  activity  m  the  colleges  tiveiy recent 

of  America  than  the  statement  that  a  volume  of  this  kind,  ^*^"y°*® 
if  prepared  a  dozen  years  ago,  would  either  have  contained  curriculum 
no  chapter  upon  music,  or,  if  music  were  given  a  place  at 
all,  the  argument  would  have  been  occupied  with  hopes 
rather  than  achievements.  Not  that  it  would  be  literally 
true  to  say  that  music  was  wholly  a  negligible  quantity 
in  the  homes  of  higher  education  until  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury, but  the  seat  assigned  to  it  in  the  few  institutions  where 
it  was  found  was  an  obscure  and  lowly  one,  and  the  influ- 
ence radiating  therefrom  reached  so  small  a  fragment  of  the 
academic  community  that  no  one  who  was  not  engaged  in  a 
careful,  sympathizing  search  could  have  been  aware  of  its 
existence.  It  was  less  than  twenty  years  ago  that  a  promi- 
nent musical  journal  printed  the  very  moderate  statement 
that  "  the  youth  who  is  graduated  at  Yale,  Harvard,  Johns 
Hopkins,  Brown,  Dartmouth,  Bowdoin,  Amherst,  Cornell, 
or  Columbia  has  not  even  a  smattering  of  music  beyond 
the  music  of  the  college  glee  and  mandolin  club;  and  of 
course  to  cultivate  that  is  the  easiest  road  to  musical  per- 
dition." One  who  looks  at  those  institutions  now,  and 
attempts  to  measure  the  power  and  reach  of  their  depart- 
ments of  music,  will  not  deny  the  right  to  the  satisfaction 
which  their  directors  —  men  of  national  influence  —  must 
feel,  and  would  almost  expect  them  to  echo  the  words  of 
ancient  Simeon.  The  contrast  is  indeed  extraordinary,  and, 
I  believe,  unparalleled.  The  work  of  these  men,  and  of 
others  who  could  be  named  with  them,  has  not  been  merely 
development,  but  might  even  be  called  creation.  Any  one 
who  attempts  to  keep  track  of  the  growth  of  musical  edu- 
cation in  our  colleges,  universities,  and  also  in  the  second- 
ary schools  of  the  present  day,  will  find  that  the  bare  sta- 

457 


458 


College  Teaching 


History  of 
the  subject 
of  music  in 
the  Ameri- 
can college 
curriculum 


tistics  of  this  increase,  to  say  nothing  of  a  study  of  the 
problems  involved,  will  engage  much  more  than  his  hours 
of  leisure.  Music,  which  not  long  ago  held  tolerance  only 
as  an  outside  interest,  confined  to  the  sphere  of  influence 
of  the  glee  club  and  the  chapel  choir,  is  now,  in  hundreds 
of  educational  institutions,  accorded  the  privileges  due  to 
those  arts  and  sciences  whose  function  in  historic  civiliza- 
tion, and  potency  in  scholarly  discipline  and  liberal  cul- 
ture, give  them  domicile  by  obvious  and  inalienable  right. 

The  first  university  professorships  in  music  were  founded 
at  Harvard  in  1876,  and  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
at  about  the  same  time.  Vassar  College  established  musical 
courses  in  1867,  Oberlin  in  1869.  Harvard  took  the  lead  in 
granting  credit  for  certain  courses  in  music  toward  the  de- 
gree of  A.B.  in  1870.*  Progress  thereafter  for  many  years 
was  slow;  but  in  1907  investigation  showed  that  "approxi- 
mately one  half  the  colleges  in  the  country  recognize  the 
value  of  instruction  in  music  sufficiently  to  grant  credit 
in  this  subject."  ^  Since  this  date  college  after  college  and 
university  after  university  have  fallen  into  line,  only  a  few 
resisting  the  current  that  sets  toward  the  universal  accept- 
ance of  music  as  a  legitimate  and  necessary  element  in 
higher  education.  The  problem  with  the  musical  educators 
of  the  country  is  no  longer  how  to  crowd  their  subject  into 
the  college  preserve,  but  how  to  organize  its  forces  there, 
how  to  develop  its  methods  on  a  basis  of  scholarly  efficiency, 
how  to  harmonize  its  courses  with  the  ideals  of  the  old  es- 
tablished departments,  and  now,  last  of  all,  how  to  bring 
the  universities  and  colleges  into  cooperation  with  the  rapid 
extension  of  musical  practice,  education,  and  taste  which 
has,  in  recent  days,  become  a  conspicuous  factor  in  our 
national   progress. 

An   investigation   into   the  causes   of   this  great  change 

1  Arthur  L.  Manchester:  "Music  Education  in  the  United  States; 
Schools  and  Departments  of  Music."  United  States  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation Bulletin,  1908,  No.  4. 

'  Papers  and  Proceedings  of  the  Music  Teachers'  National  Associa- 
tion, 1907;  report  by  Leonard  B.  McWhood. 


The  Teaching  of  Music 


459 


would  be  fully  as  interesting  as  a  critical  examination  of 
its  results.  The  limits  of  this  chapter  require  that  consider- 
ation be  given  to  the  present  and  future  of  this  movement 
rather  than  to  its  past;  but  it  is  especially  instructive,  I  think, 
to  those  who  are  called  upon  to  deal  practically  with  it, 
to  observe  that  the  welcome  now  accorded  to  music  in  our 
higher  institutions  of  learning  is  due  to  changes  in  both 
the  college  and  its  environment.  In  view  of  the  constitu- 
tion and  relationships  of  our  higher  schools  (unlike  those 
of  the  universities  of  Europe),  any  alteration  in  the  ideals, 
the  practical  activities,  and  the  living  conditions  of  the 
people  of  the  democracy  will  sooner  or  later  aflfect  those 
institutions  whose  aim  is  fundamentally  to  equip  young 
men  and  women  for  social  leadership.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  remind  the  readers  of  such  a  book  as  this  of  the  marked 
enlargement  of  the  interests  of  the  intelligent  people  of 
America  in  recent  years,  or  of  the  prominent  place  which 
aesthetic  considerations  hold  among  these  interests.  The 
ancient  thinker,  to  whom  nothing  of  human  concern  was 
alien,  would  find  the  type  he  represented  enormously  in- 
creased in  these  latter  days.  The  passion  for  the  release  of 
all  the  latent  energies  and  the  acquisition  of  every  material 
good,  which  characterizes  the  American  people  to  a  degree 
hitherto  unknown  in  the  world  since  the  outburst  of  the 
Renaissance,  issues,  as  in  the  Renaissance,  in  an  enormous 
multiplication  of  the  machinery  by  which  the  enjoyment  of 
life  and  its  outward  embellishment  are  promoted.  But 
more  than  this  and  far  better  —  the  eager  pursuit  of  the 
means  for  enhancing  physical  and  mental  gratification  has 
coincided  with  a  growing  desire  for  the  general  welfare;  — 
hence  the  aesthetic  movement  of  recent  years,  and  the  zeal  for 
social  betterment  which  excludes  no  section  or  class  or  occu- 
pation, tend  to  unite,  and  at  the  same  time  to  work  inward 
and  develop  a  type  of  character  which  seeks  joy  not 
only  in  beauty  but  also  in  the  desire  to  give  beauty  a  home 
in  the  low  as  well  as  in  the  high  places.  Whatever  may  be 
one's  view  of  the  final  value  of  the  recent  American  produc- 
tions in  literature  and  the  fine  arts,  the  social,  democratic 


Changing 
social  ideals 
responsible 
for  the  new 
attitude  to- 
ward the 
study  of 
music  in 
colleges 


460  College  Teaching 

tendency  in  them  is  unmistakable.  The  company  of  enthu- 
siastic men  and  women  who  are  preaching  the  gospel  of 
beauty  as  a  common  human  birthright  is  neither  small  nor 
feeble.  The  fine  arts  are  emerging  from  the  studios,  pro- 
fessional schools,  and  coteries;  they  are  no  longer  con- 
ceived as  the  special  prerogative  of  privileged  classes; 
not  even  is  the  creation  of  masterpieces  as  objects  of  national 
pride  the  pervading  motive; — but  they  are  seen  to  be 
potential  factors  in  national  education,  ministering  to  the 
happiness  and  mental  and  moral  health  of  the  community 
at  large.  It  was  impossible  that  the  most  enlightened  di- 
rectors of  our  colleges,  universities,  and  public  schools 
should  not  perceive  the  nature  and  possibilities  of  this 
movement,  hasten  to  ally  themselves  with  it,  and  in  many 
cases  assume  a  leadership  in  it  to  which  their  position  and 
advantages  entitled  them. 
Theeduca-  The  commanding  claims  which  the  arts  of  design,  music, 

of  music  aid  the  drama  are  asserting  for  an  organized  share  in  the 
higher  education  is  also,  I  think,  a  consequence  of  the 
change  that  has  come  about  in  recent  years  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  curriculum,  the  methods  of  instruction,  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  student  body,  the  multiplication  of  their  sanc- 
tioned activities,  and  especially  in  the  attitude  of  the  under- 
graduates toward  the  traditional  idea  of  scholarship.  The 
old  college  was  a  place  where  strict,  inherited  conceptions 
of  scholarship  and  mental  discipline  were  piously  main- 
tained. The  curriculum  rested  for  its  main  support  upon  a 
basis  of  the  classics  and  mathematics,  which  imparted  a  clas- 
sic and  mathematical  rigidity  to  the  whole  structure.  The 
professor  was  an  oracle,  backed  by  oracular  textbooks; 
the  student's  activity  was  restricted  by  a  traditional  asso- 
ciation of  learning  with  self-restraint  and  outward  severity 
of  life.  The  revolutionary  change  came  with  the  marvelous 
development  of  the  natural  sciences,  compelling  radical 
readjustments  of  thought  both  within  and  without  the  col- 
lege, the  quickening  of  the  social  life  about  the  campus, 
and  the  sharp  division  of  interest,  together  with  a  multi- 
plication of  courses  which  made  the  elective  system  inevi- 


The  Teaching  of  Music  461 

table.  The  consequence  was,  as  President  Wilson  states  it, 
that  a  "  disintegration  was  brought  about  which  destroyed 
the  old  college  with  its  fixed  disciplines  and  ordered  life, 
and  gave  us  our  present  problem  of  reorganization  and  re- 
covery. It  centered  in  the  break-up  of  the  old  curriculum 
and  the  introduction  of  the  principle  that  the  student  was 
to  select  his  own  studies  from  a  great  variety  of  courses. 
But  the  change  could  not,  in  the  nature  of  things,  stop 
with  the  plan  of  study.  It  held  in  its  heart  a  tremendous 
implication;  —  the  implication  of  full  manhood  on  the  part 
of  the  pupil,  and  all  the  untrammeled  choice  of  manhood. 
The  pupil  who  was  mature  and  well-informed  enough  to 
study  what  he  chose,  was  also  by  necessary  implication 
mature  enough  to  be  left  free  to  do  what  he  pleased,  to 
choose  his  own  associations  and  ways  of  life  outside  the 
curriculum  without  restraint  or  suggestion;  and  the  varied, 
absorbing  life  of  our  day  sprang  up  as  the  natural  off- 
spring of  the  free  election  of  studies."  ^ 

Into  an  academic  life  so  constituted,  art,  music,  and  the   The  de- 
drama  must  perforce  make  their  way  by  virtue  of  their   of  emotions 
appeal  to  those  instincts,  always  latent,  which  were  now  set  f^  ^®"  *f 

•  ml  1  I'll  ii»**i  WIO  lUtBllGCt 

in  action.     Those  agencies  by  which  the  emotional  life  has  a  vital  con- 
always  been   expressed   and   stimulated   found   a   welcome   couege  cur- 
prepared  for  them  in  the  hearts  of  college  youths,  stirred   ricuium 
with  new  zests  and  a  more  lively  self-consciousness.     But 
for  a  time  they  met  resistance  in   the  supremacy   of  the 
exact  sciences,  erroneously  set  in  opposition  to  the  forces 
which   move   the  emotions   and   the   imagination,   and   the 
stern  grip,  still  jealously  maintained,  of  the  old  conception 
of  "  mental  discipline  "  and  the  communication  of  infor- 
mation as  the  prime  purpose  of  college  teaching.     The  re- 
laxation came  with  the  recognition  of  aesthetic  pursuits  as 
"  outside  interests,"  and  organization  and  endowment  soon 
followed.     But  a  college  art  museum  logically  involves  lec- 
tures upon  art,  a  theater  an  authoritative  regulation  of  the 

^The  Spirit  of  Learning,  Woodrow  Wilson;  in  Representative  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  Orations,  edited  by  Norlhup,  Lane  and  Schwab.  Bos- 
ton, HoiiKhton  Mifflin  Company,  1915. 


462 


College  Teaching 


Problems  in 
teaching  of 
music  in 
the  college 


things  offered  therein,  a  concert  hall  and  concert  courses 
instruction  in  the  history  and  appreciation  of  music.  And 
so, 'with  surprising  celerity,  the  colleges  began  to  readjust 
their  schemes  to  admit  those  agencies  that  act  upon  the  emo- 
tion as  well  as  the  understanding,  and  the  problem  how  to 
bring  aesthetic  culture  into  a  working  union  with  the  tra- 
ditional aims  and  the  larger  social  opportunities  of  the 
college  faced  the  college  educator,  and  disturbed  his  re- 
pose with  its  peremptory  insistence  upon  a  practical  solu- 
tion. 

Although  the  question  of  purpose,  method,  and  adapta- 
tion presents  general  difficulties  of  similar  character  in  re- 
spect to  the  college  administration  of  all  the  fine  arts, 
music  is  undoubtedly  the  most  embarrassing  item  in  the 
list.  In  this  department  of  our  colleges  there  is  no  common 
conviction  as  to  methods,  no  standardized  system;  but 
rather  a  bewildering  disagreement  in  regard  to  the  subjects 
to  be  taught,  the  extent  and  nature  of  their  recognition, 
the  character  of  the  response  to  be  expected  of  the  student 
mind,  and  the  kind  of  gauge  by  which  that  response  shall  be 
measured  by  teachers,  deans,  and  registrars.  In  the  matter 
of  literature  and  the  arts  of  design,  where  there  is  like- 
wise an  implicit  intention  of  enriching  aesthetic  appreciation, 
an  agreement  is  more  easily  reached,  by  reason  of  their 
closer  relationship  to  outer  life,  to  action,  and  the  more 
familiar  processes  of  thought.  Few  would  maintain  that 
the  purpose  of  college  courses  in  English  literature  is  to 
train  professional  novelists  and  poets;  the  college  leaves  to 
the  special  art  schools  and  to  private  studios  the  develop- 
ment of  painters,  sculptors,  and  architects.  What  remains 
to  the  college  is  reasonably  clear.  But  in  music,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  function  of  the  college  is  by  no  means  so  evident 
as  to  induce  anything  like  general  agreement.  Should  the 
musical  courses  be  exclusively  cultural,  or  should  they  be 
so  shaped  as  to  provide  training  for  professional  work  in 
composition  or  performance?  Should  they  be  "  practical  " 
(that  is,  playing  and  singing),  or  simply  theoretical  (har- 
mony, counterpoint,  etc.),  or  entirely  confined  to  musical 


The  Teaching  of  Music  468 

history  and  appreciation?  Should  credits  leading  to  the 
A.B.  degree  be  given  for  musical  work,  and  if  so,  ought  they 
to  include  performance,  or  only  theory  and  composition? 
Should  musical  degrees  be  granted,  and  if  so,  for  what 
measure  of  knowledge  or  proficiency?  One  or  two  Western 
colleges  give  credit  for  work  done  under  the  direction  of 
private  teachers  in  no  way  connected  with  the  institution: 
—  is  this  procedure  to  be  commended,  and  if  so,  under  what 
safeguards?  Should  a  college  maintain  a  musical  "  con- 
servatory "  working  under  a  separate  administrative  and 
financial  system,  many  or  all  of  whose  teachers  are  not 
college  graduates;  or  should  its  musical  department  be 
necessarily  an  organic  part  of  the  college  of  arts  and 
sciences,  exactly  like  the  department  of  Latin  or  chemistry? 
If  the  former,  as  is  the  case  with  many  Western  institu- 
tions, to  what  extent  should  the  work  in  the  music  school 
be  supervised  by  the  college  president  and  general  faculty; 
under  what  limitations  may  candidates  for  the  A.B.  de- 
gree be  allowed  to  take  accredited  work  in  the  music 
school?  What  should  be  the  relation  of  the  college  to 
the  university  in  respect  to  the  musical  courses?  Is  it 
possible  to  establish  a  systematic  progress  from  step  to 
step  similar  to  that  which  exists  in  many  of  the  old  es- 
tablished lines?  What  should  be  the  relation  between  the 
college  and  the  secondary  schools?  Should  the  effort  be 
to  establish  a  continuity  of  study  and  promotion,  such 
as  that  which  exists  in  such  subjects  as  Latin  and 
mathematics?  Should  the  college  give  entrance  credits 
for  musical  work?  If  so,  should  it  be  on  examination  or 
certificate,  for  practical  or  theoretical  work,  or  both? 
Should  the  courses  in  the  history  and  appreciation  of 
music  be  thrown  open  to  all  students,  or  only  to  those 
who  have  some  preliminary  technical  knowledge? 

These  are  some  of  the  questions  that  face  a  college  gov- 
erning board  when  music  is  under  discussion  —  questions 
that  are  dealt  with  on  widely  divergent  principles  by  col- 
leges of  equal  rank.  Some  institutions  in  the  West  per- 
mit to  music  a  freedom  and  variety  in  respect  to  grades, 


464  College  Teaching 

subjects,  and  methods  which  they  allow  to  no  other  sub- 
ject. The  University  of  Kansas  undertakes  musical  ex- 
tension work  throughout  the  state.  Brown  University  re- 
stricts its  musical  instruction  to  lecture  courses  on  the  his- 
tory and  appreciation  of  music.  Between  these  extremes 
there  is  every  diversity  of  opinion  and  procedure  that  can 
be  conceived.  The  problem,  as  I  have  said,  is  two-fold, 
and  so  long  as  disagreement  exists  as  to  the  object  of 
collegiate  musical  work,  there  can  be  no  uniformity  in  ad- 
ministration. 

In  a  university  the  problem  is  or  should  be  somewhat 
more  simple,  just  as  there  is  a  more  general  accord  con- 
cerning the  precise  object  of  university  training.  In  place 
of  the  confusion  of  views  in  regard  to  ideals  and  systems 
and  methods  which  exist  in  the  present-day  college,  we 
find  in  the  university  a  calmness  of  conviction  touching 
essentials  that  results  from  the  comparative  simplicity  of  its 
functions  and  aims.  A  conspicuous  tendency  in  our  uni- 
versities is  toward  specialization;  their  spirit  and  methods 
are  largely  derived  from  the  professional  and  graduate 
schools  which  give  them  their  tone  and  prestige.  They 
look  toward  research  and  the  advancement  of  learning  as 
their  particular  raison  d'etre,  and  also  toward  the  practical 
application  of  knowledge  to  actual  life  and  the  disciplining 
of  special  faculties  for  definite  vocational  ends.^  Since 
our  universities,  unlike  those  of  Europe,  consist  of  a  union 
of  graduate  and  undergraduate  departments,  any  single 
problem,  like  that  of  music,  is  simplified  by  the  opportunity 
afforded  by  the  direct  passage  from  undergraduate  to 
graduate  work,  and  the  greater  encouragement  to  speciali- 
zation in  the  earlier  courses.  A  graduate  school  which 
admits  music  will  naturally  do  so  on  a  vocational  basis, 

^  I  wish  to  safeguard  this  statement  by  saying  that  I  have  in  mind 
not  the  more  conservative  universities  of  the  East,  but  the  state  insti- 
tutions of  the  Middle  and  Western  commonwealths.  In  speaking  of 
universities  as  compared  with  colleges  I  am  also  considering  the 
graduate  and  professional  departments.  It  is  difficult  to  make  gen- 
eral assertions  on  such  a  subject  that  do  not  meet  with  exceptions. 


The  Teaching  of  Mubic  465 

and  the  question  is  not  of  the  aim  to  be  sought,  but  the 
much  easier  one  of  the  means  of  its  attainment^  since  there 
is  no  more  of  a  puzzle  in  teaching  an  embryo  composer  or 
music  teacher  than  there  is  in  teaching  an  incipient  physi- 
cian or  engineer. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  opportunity  before  the  univer- 
sity has  been  stated  in  a  very  clear  and  suggestive  manner 
by  Professor  Albert  A.  Stanley  of  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan: "If  in  the  future  the  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  college  and  the  university  shall  cease  to  be  as  sinuous 
and  shadowy  as  at  present,  the  university  will  offer  well- 
defined  courses  in  research,  in  creative  work,  possibly  in 
interpretation  —  by  which  I  do  not  mean  criticism,  but 
rather  that  which  is  criticized.  [Professor  Stanley  evi- 
dently refers  to  musical  performance.]  The  college 
courses  will  then  be  so  broadened  that  the  preparatory 
work  will  of  necessity  be  relegated  to  the  secondary  schools. 
This  will  impose  on  the  colleges  and  universities  still  an- 
other duty  —  the  fitting  of  competent  teachers.  Logically 
music  will  then  be  placed  on  the  list  of  entrance  studies, 
and  the  circle  will  be  complete.  The  fitting  of  teachers 
who  can  satisfy  the  conditions  of  such  work  as  will  then 
be  demanded  will  be  by  no  means  the  least  function  of  the 
higher  institutions.  There  will  be  more  and  more  demand 
for  the  broadly  trained  teacher,  and  there  will  be  an  even 
greater  demand  for  the  specialist.  By  this  I  mean  the 
specialist  who  has  been  developed  in  a  normal  manner, 
and  who  appreciates  the  greater  relations  of  knowledge  and 
life."  ' 

There  is  no  question  that  the   future  of  music   in   the  Problems  in 
colleges  will  greatly  depend  upon  the  developments  in  the  music  in  ° 

secondary  schools.     If  the  time  ever  comes  when  the  admin-   secondary 
r  1  1  •  1        1  1  schools  are 

istrators  of  our  public  school  system  accept  and  act  upon   inteUigenUy 

the  assertion  of  Dr.  Claxton,  United  States  Commissioner  of  »"»«*«* 

Education,  that  "  after  the  beginnings  of  reading,  writing, 

and  mathematics  music  has  greater  practical  value  than  any 

1  Papers  and  Proceedings  of  the  Music  Teachers'  National  Associa- 
tion, 1906. 


4C6  College  Teaehing 

other  subject  taught  in  the  schools,"  the  college  will  find 
its  determination  of  musical  courses  an  easier  matter  than 
it  is  now.     Students  will  in  that  event  come  prepared  to 
take  advantage  of  the  more  advanced   instruction  offered 
by  the  college,  as  they  do  at  present  in  the  standard  sub- 
jects, and  the  musical  pathway  through  the  college,  and  then 
through  the  university,  will  be  direct  and  unimpeded.     Al- 
though such  a  prospect  may  seem  to  many  only  a  roseate 
dream,  it  is  a  safer  prophecy  than  it  would  have  appeared 
a   half-dozen   years   ago.     The   number   of   grammar   and 
high  schools  is  rapidly  increasing  in  which  the  pupils  are 
given  solid  instruction  in  chorus  singing,  ensemble  playing, 
musical  theory,  and  the  history  and  appreciation  of  music; 
and  in  many  places  pupils  are  also  permitted  to  carry  on 
private  study  in  vocal  and  instrumental  music  at  the  hands 
of   approved    teachers,   and    school    credit   given    therefor. 
So  apparent  is  the  need  of  this  latter  privilege,  and  so  full 
of  fine  possibilities,  that  the  question  of  licensing  private 
teachers  with  a  view  to  an  official  recognition  of  the  fittest 
has  begun  to  receive  the  attention  of  state  associations  and 
legislatures.     It  is  impossible  that  the  colleges  should  re- 
main   indifferent   to   these   tendencies    in    the   preparatory 
schools,  for  their  duty  and  their  advantage  are  found  in 
cooperating  with   them.     The   opportunity   has   been   most 
clearly  seen  by  those  colleges  which  have  established  de- 
partments for  the  training  of  supervisors  of  public  school 
music.     Such  service  comes  eminently  within  the  role  of 
the  college,  for  a  disciplined  understanding,  a  liberal  cul- 
ture, an  acquaintance  with  subjects  once  unrecognized  as 
related  to  music  teaching,  are  coming  to  be  demanded  in  the 
music  supervisor.     The  day  of  the  old  country-school  sing- 
ing-master transferred  to  the  public  school  is  past;  the  day 
of  the  trained  supervisor,  who  measures  up  to  the  intellec- 
tual stature  of  his  colleagues,  is  at  hand.     So  clearly  is 
this  perceived  that  college  courses  in  public  school  music, 
which  at  first  occupied  one  year  at  the  most,  are  being  ex- 
tended to  two  years  and  three  years,  and  in  at  least  one 
or  two   instances  occupying  four  years.     And  the  benefit 


The  Teaching  of  Music  467 

is  not  confined  to  the  schoolroom,  for  an  educated  man, 
conscious  of  his  peculiar  powers,  will  see  and  use  oppor- 
tunities afforded  him  not  merely  as  a  salaried  preceptor  but 
also  as  a  citizen. 

To  revert  to  the  difficulties  which  the  college  faces  in  vital 
adjusting  musical  courses  to  the  general  scheme  of  academic  musfcin" 
instruction:  it  is  clear  that  these  difficulties  lie  partly  in  coUegecur- 
the  very  nature  of  musical  art.  For  music  is  not  only  an  emotional 
art  but  a  science.  It  is  the  product  of  constructive  inge-  *°*  aesthetic 
nuity  as  well  as  of  "inspiration";  its  technique  is  of  ex- 
quisite refinement  and  appalling  difficulty;  it  appeals  to  the 
intellect  as  well  as  to  the  emotion.  And  yet  the  intellec- 
tual element  is  but  tributary,  and  if  the  consciousness  will- 
fully shuts  its  gates  against  the  tide  of  rapture  rushing  to 
flood  the  sense  and  the  emotion,  then  in  reality  music  is 
not,  for  its  spirit  is  dead.  What  shall  be  done  with  an 
agency  so  fierce  and  absorbing  as  this?  Can  it  be  tamed 
and  fettered  by  the  old  conceptions  of  mental  discipline 
and  scholastic  routine?  Only  by  falsifying  its  nature  and 
denying  its  essential  appeal.  Some  colleges  attempt  so  to 
evade  the  difficulty,  and  lend  favor,  so  far  at  least  as 
credit  is  concerned,  only  to  the  theoretical  studies  in  which 
the  training  is  as  severe,  and  almost  as  unimaginative,  as 
it  is  in  mathematics.  But  to  many  this  appears  too  much 
like  a  reversion  to  the  viewpoint  of  the  mediaeval  con- 
vent schools  which  classed  music  in  the  quadrivium  along 
with  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astronomy.  Neither  the  cre- 
ative power  nor  the  aesthetic  receptivity  is  considered  in 
such  courses  as  these,  and  the  spirit  of  music  revolts 
against  this  confinement  and  gives  its  pedantic  jailers  no 
peace. 

Shall   practical   courses  in   playing  and  singing  be   ac-   Thepracti- 
,r.      »T  1  1.       .  .1  c    •  cal  course 

cepted?     Now    the   objection    arises   that   any    proficiency   asdiscipu- 

with  which  a  student  —  at  least  a  talented  one  —  would  be   °»'y"*''» 

1  L    •      I  theoretical 

satisfied,  entails  hours  each  day  of  purely  technical  prac- 
tice, involving  little  of  the  kind  of  mental  activity  that  is 
presupposed  in  the  tradition  of  college  training.  Those 
institutions  that  have  no  practical  courses  are  logical,  at  all 


468 


College  Teaching 


Lack  of  col- 
lege-trained 
teachers 
adds  to  dif- 
ficulty of 
recognizing 
music  as 
a  college 
subject 


events,  and  seem  to  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance.  But 
the  opposition  against  the  purely  theoretical  side  of  musical 
culture  will  not  down,  and  the  "  practical  "  element  makes 
steady  headway  as  the  truth  shines  more  clearly  upon  the 
administrative  mind  that  musical  performance  is  not  a 
matter  of  mechanical  technique  alone,  but  of  scholarship, 
imaginative  insight,  keen  emotional  reaction,  and  interpre- 
tation which  involves  a  sympathetic  understanding  of  the 
creative  mind.  The  objection  to  practical  exercise  dwindles 
as  the  conception  of  its  nature  and  goal  enlarges. 

Another  hindrance  presents  itself  —  not  so  inherent  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  as  those  just  mentioned  —  and  that  is  the 
lack  of  teachers  of  music  whose  educational  equipment 
corresponds  in  all  particulars  to  the  standard  which  the 
colleges  have  always  maintained  as  a  condition  of  election 
to  their  corps  of  instructors.  That  one  who  is  not  a  col- 
lege graduate  should  be  appointed  to  a  professorship  or 
instructorship  in  a  college  or  university  might  seem  to  a 
college  man  of  the  old  school  very  near  an  absurdity. 
Yet  as  matters  now  stand  it  would  be  impossible  to  fill  the 
collegiate  musical  departments  with  holders  of  the  A.B. 
degree.  The  large  and  increasing  number  of  college  gradu- 
ates who  are  entering  the  musical  profession,  especially 
with  a  view  to  finding  a  home  in  higher  educational  insti- 
tutions, is  an  encouraging  phase  of  present  tendencies,  and 
seems  to  hold  out  an  assurance  that  this  aspect  of  the  col- 
lege dilemma  will  eventually  disappear.^  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  the  colleges  may  be  willing  to  agree  to  a 
compromise,  making  a  distinction  between  the  teachers  of 
the  history  and  criticism  of  music  and  those  engaged  in  the 
departments  of  musical  theory  and  performance.  Certainly 
no  man  should  be  given  a  college  position  who  is  not  in 
sympathy  with  the  largest  purposes  of  the  institution  and 
able  to  contribute  to  their  realization;  but  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  broad   intelligence  and  elevated  character 

^  There  is  an  interesting  statistical  article  on  the  college  graduate  in 
the  musical  profession  by  W.  J.  Baltzell  in  the  Musical  Quarterly, 
October,  1915. 


The  Teaching  of  Music 


469 


are  to  be  found  outside  the  ranks  of  college  alumni,  and 

are  not  guaranteed  by  a  college  diploma. 

Amid   the   jangle  of   conflicting   opinions   in   regard   to  Teaching  of 

,  .  tn6  history 

courses   and   methods   and   credits  and   degrees,   etc.,   etc.,  and  approci- 

one  subject  enjoys  the  distinction  of  unanimous  consent,  *"°°°' 


and  .that  is  the  history  and  appreciation  of  music.  This 
department  may  stand  alone,  as  it  does  at  Brown  University, 
or  it  may  supplement  theoretical  and  practical  courses;  but 
there  seems  to  be  a  universal  conviction  that  if  the  colleges 
accept  music  in  any  guise,  they  must  use  it  as  a  means  of 
enlarging  comprehension  and  taste  on  the  part  of  their 
young  people,  and  of  bringing  them  to  sympathetic  accept- 
ance of  its  finest  manifestations.  It  seems  incredible  that  a 
college  should  employ  literature  and  the  fine  arts  except 
with  the  fixed  intention  of  bringing  them  to  bear  upon  the 
mind  of  youth  according  to  the  purpose  of  those  who  made 
them  what  they  are  in  the  spiritual  development  of  human- 
ity. Even  from  the  most  rigid  theoretical  and  technical 
drill  the  cultural  aim  must  not  be  excluded  if  the  college 
would  be  true  to  itself;  how  much  more  urgent  is  the  duty 
of  providing  courses  in  which  the  larger  vision  of  art,  with 
the  resultant  spiritual  quickening,  is  the  prime  intention! 
President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  in  his  address  of  welcome 
to  the  Music  Teachers'  National  Association  at  their  meet- 
ing in  New  York  in  1907,  struck  a  note  that  must  find  re- 
sponse in  the  minds  of  all  who  are  called  upon  to  deal 
officially  with  this  question,  when  he  recognized  as  a  de- 
partment of  music  worthy  of  the  college  dignity  "  one  which 
is  not  to  deal  merely  with  the  technique  of  musical  expres- 
sion or  musical  processes,  but  one  which  is  to  interpret  the 
underlying  principles  of  musical  art  and  the  various  sci- 
ences on  which  it  rests,  and  to  set  out  and  to  illustrate  to 
men  and  women  who  are  seeking  education  what  those  prin- 
ciples signify,  how  they  may  be  brought  helpfully  and  in- 
spiringly  into  intellectual  life,  and  what  part  they  should 
play  in  the  public  consciousness  of  a  cultivated  and  civ- 
ilized nation." 

The  first  step  in  understanding  the  part  which  the  prin- 


music 


470 


College  Teaching 


Emphasis 
on  apprecia- 
tion rather 
than  tech- 
nique 


The  prop- 
erly trained 
college 
teacher 
of  music 


ciples  of  music  should  play  in  the  consciousness  of  a  civi- 
lized nation  is  to  learn  the  part  they  have  played  in  history. 
A  survey  of  this  history  shows  that  all  the  phenomena  of 
musical  development,  even  those  apparently  transient  and 
superficial,  testify  to  a  necessity  of  human  nature,  an  un- 
appeasable thirst  for  self-expression.  In  view  of  the  re- 
lationship of  musical  art  to  the  individual  and  the  collec- 
tive need,  it  is  plain  that  musical  history  and  musical  ap- 
preciation must  be  taught  together  as  a  supplementary  phase 
of  one  great  theme.  And,  furthermore,  this  phase  is  one 
that  is  not  only  necessary  in  a  complete  scheme  of  musical 
culture,  but  is  also  one  that  is  conveyed  in  a  language 
which  all  can  understand.  It  is  significant  of  the  broad 
democratic  outlook  of  our  American  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, in  contrast  to  the  universities  of  Europe,  that  the  needs 
of  the  unprepared  students  are  considered  as  well  as  the 
benefit  of  those  who  have  had  musical  preparation,  and  the 
mysteries  of  musical  art  are  submitted  to  all  who  desire 
initiation.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  upon  this 
wise  and  generous  attitude  toward  the  fine  arts  which  is 
maturing  in  our  American  colleges;  by  which  they  demon- 
strate their  belief  in  the  power  of  adaptation  of  all  mani- 
festations of  beauty  to  the  condition  of  every  one  of  in- 
telligence, however  slight  the  experience  or  limited  the 
talent.  There  are,  unquestionably,  certain  puzzling  diffi- 
culties in  imparting  an  understanding  of  musical  structure 
and  principles  to  those  who  have  not  even  a  preliminary 
smattering  of  the  musical  speech,  but  the  experiment  has 
gone  far  enough  to  prove  that  music,  with  all  its  abstruse- 
ness,  complexity,  and  remoteness  from  the  world  of  ordi- 
nary experience,  has  still  a  message  so  direct,  so  pene- 
trating, so  human  and  humanizing,  that  no  one  can  be 
wholly  indifferent  to  its  eloquence  when  it  comes  through 
the  ministry  of  a  qualified  interpreter. 

A  qualified  interpreter! — yes,  there's  the  rub.  Only  a 
few  years  ago  men  competent  to  teach  the  history  and 
philosophy  of  music  in  a  manner  which  a  college  or  univer- 
sity could  consistently  tolerate,  were  almost  non-existent, 


The  Teaching  of  Music  471 

and  even  today  many  colleges  are  out  of  sheer  necessity 
giving  over  this  department  to  men  of  very  scanty  qualifica- 
tions. Few  men  have  faith  enough  to  prepare  for  work  that 
is  not  yet  in  sight.  Then  with  the  sudden  breaking  out  of 
musical  history  and  appreciation  courses  all  over  the 
country,  the  demand  appeared  instantly  far  in  excess  of  the 
supply.  The  few  men  who  had  prepared  themselves  for 
scholarly  critical  work  were,  as  a  rule,  in  the  employ  of 
daily  newspapers,  and  the  colleges  were  compelled  to  dele- 
gate the  historical  and  interpretative  lectures  to  those  whose 
training  had  been  almost  wholly  in  other  lines  of  musical 
interest.  No  reputable  college  would  think  for  a  moment 
of  offering  chairs  of  political  science,  or  general  history,  or 
English  literature  to  men  with  so  meager  an  equipment. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  disfavor  with  which  the  musical 
courses  are  still  regarded  by  professors  of  the  old  school 
is  largely  due  to  the  feeling  that  their  musical  colleagues 
as  a  rule  have  undergone  an  education  so  narrow  and  special 
that  it  keeps  them  apart  from  the  full  life  of  the  institu- 
tion. That  this  is  the  tendency  of  an  education  that  is 
exclusively  special,  no  one  can  deny.  It  is  equally  undeni- 
able that  such  an  education  is  quite  inadequate  in  the  case 
of  one  who  assumes  to  teach  the  history  and  appreciation  of 
music.  This  subject,  by  reason  of  the  multifarious  relations 
between  music  and  individual  and  social  life,  demands  not 
only  a  complete  technical  knowledge,  but  also  a  familiarity 
with  languages,  general  history,  literature,  and  art  not  less 
than  that  required  by  any  other  subject  that  could  be  men- 
tioned. The  suggestion  by  a  French  critic  that  a  lecturer  on 
art  must  be  an  artist,  a  historian,  a  philosopher,  and  a  poet, 
applies  with  equal  relevance  to  a  lecturer  on  music. 

It  is  only  fair  to  the  musical  profession  to  say  that  its 
members  are  as  eager  to  meet  these  requirements  as  the 
colleges  are  to  make  them.  If  music  still  holds  an  inferior 
place  in  many  colleges,  both  in  fact  and  in  esteem,  the  fault 
lies  in  no  small  measure  in  the  ignorance  on  the  part  of 
trustees,  presidents,  and  faculties  of  the  nature  of  music, 
its  demands,  its  social  values,  and  its  mission  in  the  de- 


472  College  Teaching 

velopment  of  civilization.  With  the  enlightenment  of  the 
powers  that  control  the  college  machinery,  encouragement 
will  be  given  to  men  of  liberal  culture  and  scholarly  habit 
to  prepare  themselves  directly  for  college  work.  The  hun- 
dreds of  college  graduates  now  in  the  musical  profession 
will  be  followed  by  other  hundreds  still  more  amply 
equipped  as  critics  and  expounders.  The  natural  place 
for  the  majority  of  them,  I  maintain,  is  not  in  the  private 
studio  or  newspaper  office,  but  in  the  college  and  university 
classroom. 

There  is  no  reason  in  the  nature  of  things  why  our  col- 
leges and  universities  should  not  also  be  the  centers  of  a 
concentrated  and  intensive  activity,  directed  upon  research 
and  philosophic  generalization  in  the  things  of  music  as  in 
other  fields  of  inquiry.  For  this  they  must  provide  libra- 
ries, endowments,  and  fellowships.  Such  works  as  Mr. 
Elson's  History  of  American  Music,  Mr.  Krehbiel's  Afro- 
American  Folksongs,  and  Mr.  Kelly's  Chopin  as  a  Com- 
poser should  properly  emanate  from  the  organized  insti- 
tutions of  learning  which  are  able  to  give  leisure  and  facility 
to  men  of  scholarly  ambition.  The  French  musical  histo- 
rian, Jules  Combarieu,  enumerates  as  the  domains  constantly 
open  to  musical  scholarship:  acoustics,  physiology,  mathe- 
matics, psychology,  aesthetics,  history,  philology,  palaeog- 
raphy, and  sociology.^  Every  one  of  these  topics  has 
already  an  indispensable  place  in  the  college  and  univer- 
sity system  —  it  is  for  trained  scholarship  to  draw  from 
them  the  contributions  that  will  relate  music  explicitly  to 
the  active  life  of  the  intellect. 

But  not  for  the  intellect  only.  Here  the  colleges  are  still 
in  danger  of  error,  due  to  their  long-confirmed  emphasis 
upon  concepts,  demonstrations,  scientific  methods,  and 
"  positive  "  results,  to  the  neglect  of  the  imagination,  the 
emotions,  the  intuitions,  and  the  things  spiritually  discerned. 
"  The  sovereign  of  the  arts,"  says  Edmund  Clarence  Sted- 
man,  "  is  the  imagination,  by  whose  aid  man  makes  every 

^  Music;  Its  Laws  and  Evolution:  Introduction.     Translation  in  Ap- 
pleton's  International  Scientific  Series. 


The  Teaching  of  Music  473 

leap  forward;  and  emotion  is  its  twin,  through  which 
come  all  fine  experiences,  and  all  great  deeds  are  achieved. 
Youth  demands  its  share  in  every  study  that  can  engender 
a  power  or  a  delight.  Universities  must  enhance  the  use, 
the  joy,  the  worth  of  existence.  They  are  institutions  both 
human  and  humane."  * 

Institutions  which  exclude  the  agencies  which  act  directly   The  test  of 
to  enhance  "the  joy  and  the  worth  of  existence"  are  uni-   teaching  of 
versities   only   in   name.     Equally    imperfect   are  they   if,   masicinthe 
while  nominally  accepting  these  agencies,   they   recognize  Does  it  en- 
only  those  elements  in  them  which  are  susceptible  to  scien-   'Jch  the  life 
tific  analysis,  whose  effects  upon  the  student  can  be  tested   student 
by   examinations   and    be   marked   and   graded  —  elements  tncuiclition 
which  are  only  means,  and  not  final  ends.     The  college  for-   of  an 
ever  needs  the  humanizing,  socializing  power  of  music,  the  interest? 
drama,  the  arts  of  design,  and  it  must  use  them  not  as  con- 
fined to  the  classroom  or  to  any  single  section  of  the  insti- 
tution, but  as  the  effluence  of  spiritual  life,  permeating  and 
invigorating  the  whole.     In  the  mental  life  of  the  college 
there  have  always  ruled  investigation,  comparison,  analysis, 
and  the  temper   fostered   is  that  of  reflection   and   didac- 
ticism.    Into  this  world  of  deliberation,  routine,  mechanical 
calculation,  there  has  come  the  warm  breath  of  music,  art, 
and  poetry,  stirring  a  new  fire  of  rapture  amid  the  em- 
bers of  speculation.     The  instincts  of  youth  spring  to  in- 
hale it;   youth  feels  affiliation  with  it,  for  art  and  poesy, 
like  nature,   are  ever   self-renewing   and   never  grow   old. 
It  works  to  unify  the  life  of  the  college  whose  tendency 
is  to  divide  into  sealed  compartments  of  special  intellectual 
interests.     It  introduces  a  life  that  all  may  share,  because 
men  divide  when  led  by  their  intellects,  they  unite  when  led 
by  their  emotions.     Among  the  fine  arts  music  is  perhaps 
supreme  in  its  power  to  refine  the  sense  of  beauty,  to  soften 
the  heart  at  the  touch  of  high  thought  and  tender  senti- 
ment, to  bring  the  individual  soul  into  sympathy  with  the 
over-soul  of  humanity.     It  is  this  that  gives  music  its  su- 

*  The  Nature  and  Elements  of  Poetry,  page  5. 


474  College  Teaching 

preme  claim  to  an  honored  place  in  the  halls  of  learning, 
as  it  is  its  crowning  glory. 

The  whole  argument,  then,  is  reduced  to  this:  that  with 
all  the  scientific  aspects  of  the  art  with  respect  to  material, 
structure,  psychological  action,  historical  origins  and  de- 
velopments and  relations,  of  which  the  college,  as  an  insti- 
tution of  exact  learning,  may  take  cognizance,  music  must 
be  accepted  and  taught  just  because  it  is  beautiful  and  pro- 
motes the  joy  of  life,  and  the  development  of  the  higher 
sense  of  beauty  and  the  spiritual  quickening  that  issues 
therefrom  must  be  the  final  reason  for  its  use.  At  the  same 
time  it  must  be  so  cultivated  and  taught  that  it  will  unite 
its  forces  for  a  common  end  with  all  those  factors  which, 
within  the  college  and  without  the  college,  are  now  working 
with  an  energy  never  known  before  in  American  history  for 
a  social  life  animated  by  a  zeal  for  ideal  rather  than 
material  ends,  and  inspired  by  nobler  visions  of  the  true 
meaning  of  national  progress. 

Among  the  worthy  functions  of  our  colleges  there  is  none 
more  needful  than  that  of  inspiring  ardent  young  crusaders 
who  shall  go  forth  to  contend  against  the  hosts  of  medioc- 
rity, ugliness,  and  vulgarity.  One  encouragement  to  this 
warfare  is  in  the  fact  that  these  hosts,  although  legion,  are 
dull  as  well  as  gross,  and  may  easily  be  bewildered  and  put 
to  rout  by  the  organized  assaults  of  the  children  of  light. 
So  may  it  be  said  of  our  institutions  of  culture,  as  Matthew 
Arnold  said  of  Oxford,  that  they  "  keep  ever  calling  us 
nearer  to  the  true  goal  of  all  of  us,  to  the  ideal,  to  per- 
fection —  to  beauty,  in  a  word,  which  is  only  truth  seen 
from  another  side." 

Edward  Dickinson 

Oberlin  College 


XXIV 

THE  TEACHING  OF  ART 

IN  this  chapter  an  attempt  is  made  to  set  forth  the  aims,  ^'**°^!'"*L" 
1  1      1         r  .         .        ,  ,,  tion  defined 

content,  and  methods  ot  art  mstruction  m  the  college. 

In  this  discussion  the  word  "  college  "  will  be  regarded  in 
the  usual  sense  of  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts,  and  art  in- 
struction as  one  of  the  courses  which  lead  to  the  degree 
of  bachelor  of  arts. 

There  is  no  term  that  is  used  more  freely  and  with  less 
precision  than  the  word  "  art."  In  some  usages  it  is  given 
a  very  broad  and  comprehensive  meaning,  in  others  a  very 
narrow  and  exclusive  one.  The  term  is  sometimes  ap- 
plied to  a  human  activity,  at  other  times  to  the  products 
of  but  a  small  part  of  that  activity  —  for  example,  paintings 
and  statuary. 

In  this  chapter  the  term  will  be  used  in  accordance  with 
the  definition  evolved  by  Tolstoi,  who  says:  "Art  is  a 
human  activity,  consisting  in  this,  that  one  man  consciously, 
by  means  of  external  signs,  hands  on  to  others  feelings  he 
has  lived  through,  and  that  other  people  are  affected  by 
these  feelings,  and  also  experience  them."  ^  The  external 
signs  by  which  the  feelings  are  handed  on  are  movements, 
as  in  dancing  and  pantomime;  lines,  masses,  colors,  as  in 
architecture,  painting  and  sculpture;  sounds,  as  in  music;  or 
forms  expressed  in  words,  as  in  poetry  and  other  forms  of 
literature.  The  external  signs  with  which  art  instruction 
in  the  college  deals  are  lines,  masses,  and  colors.  This 
discussion,  therefore,  treats  of  instruction  in  the  formative 
or  visual  arts,  which  include  architecture,  painting,  sculp- 
ture, decoration,  and  the  various  crafts,  in  so  far  as  they 
come  within  the  meaning  of  the  definition  given  above. 

Concerning  the  nature  of  art  and  the  purpose  of  art 
instruction  in  the  college,  there"  is  so  much  misunderstanding 

1  Tolsloi,  L.  N.,  What  Is  Art?    Thomas  Y.  Crowell  Company,  1899. 
Chapter  V,  page  43. 

475 


476 


College  Teaching 


Instruction 
in  art 
should  be 
an  Integral 
part  of  a 
liberal  edu- 
cation 


Art  a  social 
activity 


that  it  will  be  well  to  make  an  attempt  at  clarification. 
Art  is  too  commonly  regarded  as  a  luxury  —  a  superfluity 
that  may  serve  to  occupy  the  leisure  of  the  well-to-do  —  a 
kind  of  embroidery  upon  the  edge  of  life  that  may  be 
affixed  or  discarded  at  will.  Whereas,  art  is  a  factor  that 
is  fundamental  in  human  life  and  development,  a  factor 
that  has  entered  into  the  being  of  the  race  from  the  dawn 
of  reason.  Its  products,  which  antedate  written  history 
by  thousands  of  years,  form  the  most  reliable  source  of 
information  we  possess  of  the  habits  and  thoughts  of  pre- 
historic man.  It  has  been  the  medium  of  expression  of 
many  of  the  choicest  products  of  human  thought  through- 
out the  ages.  These  products  have  been  embodied  in  forms 
other  than  that  of  writing.  Its  functions  are  limited  neither 
to  the  citizen,  the  community,  nor  the  country;  they  extend 
beyond  national  bounds  to  the  world  at  large.  Art  belongs 
to  the  brotherhood  of  man.  It  is  no  respecter  of  national- 
ities. It  is  obvious  that  in  a  general  college  course,  a  study 
of  the  religious,  social,  and  political  factors  in  civilization 
that  does  not  include  art  among  these  factors  is  incom- 
plete. 

The  question  under  discussion  concerns  the  teaching  of 
art  to  the  candidate  for  the  bachelor  of  arts  degree,  and  this 
question  will  be  solely  kept  in  view.  Since,  however, 
graduates  in  science,  engineering,  law,  medicine,  etc.,  are 
not  exempt  from  the  needs  of  artistic  culture,  they  too 
should  have  at  least  an  effective  minimum  of  art  instruc- 
tion. 

Art  is  recognized  as  a  social  activity.  It  enters  largely 
into  such  practical  and  utilitarian  problems  of  the  com- 
munity as  town  planning  and  other  forms  of  civic  improve- 
ment. As  workers  in  such  activities,  college  graduates  are 
frequently  called  to  serve  on  boards  of  directors  and  com- 
mittees which  have  such  work  in  charge.  To  most  of  such 
persons,  education  in  art  comes  as  a  post-collegiate  activity. 
Surely  the  interests  of  the  community  would  be  promoted 
if  the  men  and  women  into  whose  hands  these  interests  are 
committed  had  had  some  formal  instruction  in  art  during 
their  college  years. 


The  Teaching  of  Art  477 

If  by  practical  education  we  mean  training  which  pre- 
pares the  individual  for  living,  then  the  study  of  an  activity 
that  so  pervades  human  life  should  be  included  in  the 
curriculum  of  even  a  so-called  practical  college  course. 
Art  education  has  a  more  important  function  than  to  pro- 
mote the  love  of  the  beautiful,  to  purify  and  elevate  public 
taste,  to  awaken  intellectual  and  spiritual  desires,  to  create 
a  permanent  means  of  investing  leisure.  Important  as  all 
these  purposes  are,  they  are  merely  a  part  of  a  larger  one 
—  that  of  revealing  to  the  student  the  relationship  of  art  to 
living. 

Art  expression  has  the  quality  of  utmost  flexibility.     This  noxibuity 
n     .,  ...  ,       .  .  .  ,  .    .  ■'^       ,  .      of  art 

ilexibility  appears  also  m  art  instruction,  and  it  is  tor  this   expression 

reason  that  in  no  two  institutions  of  higher  learning  is  the   fl^j'^^'of 
problem  of  art  instruction  attacked  in  the  same  way.     There  art  instrnc- 
is,  consequently,  a  great  diversity  in  the  types  of  art  courses,     °° 
even  in  the  college. 

The  flexibility  of  art  instruction  is  both  advantageous  and 
embarrassing.  It  is  an  advantage  in  that  it  can  be  adapted 
to  almost  any  requirement.  It  can  be  applied  to  the  occu- 
pations of  the  kindergarten,  or  it  can  be  made  an  intensive 
study  suitable  for  the  graduate  school.  But  this  very 
breadth  is  also  a  source  of  weakness  in  that  it  tends  to  di- 
vert the  attention  from  that  precision  of  purpose  which  all 
formal  instruction  should  have,  however  elementary  or  ad- 
vanced. It  is  apt  to  be  too  scattering  in  its  aims.  It  is  not 
easy  to  determine  exact  values  either  in  the  subject  studied 
or  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  student.  Estimates  in  art 
are,  and  should  be,  largely  a  matter  of  personal  taste  and 
opinion.  They  are  not  infrequently  colored  by  prejudice, 
especially  where  the  judgment  of  producing  artists  is  in- 
voked. This,  again,  is  as  it  should  be.  An  artist  who  as- 
sumes toward  all  works  of  art  a  catholic  attitude,  weakens 
that  intensity  of  view  and  of  purpose  which  animates  his 
enthusiasm.  It  can  easily  be  understood  that  to  a  larger 
extent  than  in  other  subjects  the  nature  and  scope  of  art  in- 
struction depends  upon  the  personality  of  the  instructor. 


478  College  Teaching 

Values  of  The  flexibility  to  which  we  have  adverted  adapts  art  in- 

art  instruc-       »      ^-       ^     J-  J       X-       1     • 

tion  struction  to  diverse  educational  aims. 

In  that  it  can  be  made  to  conduce  to  accurate  observation 
of  artistic  manifestations,  and  to  logical  deduction  there- 
from, it  may  be  given  a  disciplinary  purpose.  In  its 
highest  development,  to  which  only  the  specially  gifted  can 
attain,  the  ability  to  observe  accurately  and  to  deduce  logi- 
cally demands  the  most  exacting  training  of  the  eye,  of  the 
visual  memory,  and  of  the  judgment.  As  an  example  of 
the  exercise  of  this  sort  of  discipline  we  may  cite  Professor 
Waldstein's  recognition  of  a  marble  fragment  in  the  form 
of  a  head  in  the  Louvre  as  belonging  to  a  metope  of  the 
Parthenon.  When,  after  Professor  Waldstein's  suggestion 
of  the  probable  connection,  a  plaster  cast  of  the  head  was 
taken  to  the  British  Museum  and  placed  upon  the  headless 
figure  of  one  of  the  metopes,  the  surfaces  of  fracture  were 
found  to  correspond.^  The  most  useful  application  of  this 
ability  lies  in  the  correct  attribution  of  works  of  art  to  their 
proper  schools  and  authorship.  Signor  Morelli  in  his 
method  of  identification  used  a  system  that  is  almost 
mechanical,  yet  the  evidence  supplied  by  concurrence  or 
discrepancy  of  form  in  the  delineation  of  anatomical  details 
was  supplemented  by  a  highly  cultivated  sense  for  style,  for 
craftsmanship,  and  for  color  as  well  as  by  an  extensive 
historical  knowledge. 

In  that  art  instruction  cultivates  taste  and  the  apprecia- 
tion of  works  of  art,  it  has  a  cultural  purpose.  By  many 
persons  it  is  assumed  that  this  is  its  sole  value. 

In  that  it  serves  to  illuminate  the  study  of  the  progress 
of  civilization,  it  has  an  informative  purpose. 

In  that  it  enables  the  technical  student  to  correlate  his 
work  with  that  of  past  and  present  workers,  it  aids 
in  the  preparation  for  professional  studies. 

Art  has  been  defined  as  "  the  harmonic  expression  of  the 
emotions." "     Accepting  this  definition  as  a  modified  con- 

^Waldstein:     Essays  on  the  Art  of  Pheidias,  Cambridge  University 

Press,  1885,  pages  95  et  seq. 
2  New  Princeton  Review,  II,  29. 


The  Tcachiny  of  Art 


479 


densalion  of  Tolstoi's  definition,  it  is  clear  that  in  a  work 
of  art  two  separate  personalities  are  involved  —  that  which 
makes  the  expression,  and  the  other  to  whom  the  expres- 
sion is  addressed;  thus,  there  are  artists  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  public  on  the  other.  Since  we  shall  have  to  speak 
of  two  distinct  classes  of  students, —  namely,  those  who 
are  in  training  as  future  artists  (as  architects,  painters, 
scupltors,  designers,  etc.),  and  those  who  are  taking  courses 
in  the  understanding  or  appreciation  of  art, —  it  will  be  con- 
venient in  this  discussion  to  refer  to  the  former  as  art  stu- 
dents and  to  the  latter  as  lay  students. 

Formal  art  instruction  has  been  offered  by  colleges  to 
both  these  groups.  It  is  evident  that  for  the  training  of  the 
art  student  emphasis  must  be  placed  upon  the  technique  of 
creative  work,  whereas  for  the  lay  student  emphasis  must  be 
placed  upon  the  study  of  the  theory  and  the  history  of  art. 
It  would  seem,  however,  that  these  two  methods  are  not 
mutually  exclusive;  nor  should  they  be,  for  the  art  student 
would  surely  gain  ty  a  study  of  the  principles  of  art  and 
its  history,  while  the  lay  student  would  profit  by  a  certain 
amount  of  practice  directed  by  an  observance  of  the  prin- 
ciples. 

Mr.  Duncan  Phillips,  in  an  article  entitled  "  What  Instruc- 
tion in  Art  Should  the  College  A.B.  Course  Offer  to  the 
Future  Writer  on  Art?  "  proposes  a  hypothetical  course  in 
which  "  the  ultimate  intention  would  be  to  awaken  the 
aesthetic  sensibilities  of  the  youthful  mind,  to  encourage  the 
emergence  of  the  artists  and  art  critics,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  residue  of  well-instructed  appreciators."  ^ 

This  proposal  assumes  the  desirability  of  the  completion 
of  a  general  course  designed  for  college  students,  before 
beginning  the  special  courses  designed  for  those  individuals 
whose  aptitudes  seem  to  fit  them  for  successful  careers  as 
artists  on  the  one  hand,  or  as  successful  writers  on  art, 
or  art  instructors  on  the  other. 

In  this  place  the  question  of  professional  training  will 
not   be   discussed.     The   courses   under   consideration    are 


Diffsrence 
between 
technical 
and  lay 
courses  in 
art  one  of 
emphasis 


1  The  American  Magazine  of  Art,  Vol.  8,  No.  5,  page  177. 


480 


College  Teaching 


A  general 
coarse  of 
study  — 
Mast  be 
adjusted  to 
local  con- 
ditions 


designed  to  serve  the  group  of  lay  students  from  which 
specialists  may,  from  time  to  time,  emerge.  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  provision  for  the  further  training 
of  such  specialists  should  be  made  in  the  college,  in  the 
postgraduate  school,  or  in  an  allied  professional  school 
of  art. 

In  view  of  the  great  diversity  in  the  treatment  of  the 
subject  in  different  colleges,  it  will  be  impossible  to  pre- 
sent a  series  of  courses  that  might,  under  other  conditions, 
be  representative  of  a  general  practice  throughout  the 
country.  On  the  other  hand,  the  attempt  to  make  an  epi- 
tome of  the  various  methods  in  use  at  the  more  important 
colleges  would  result  in  the  presentation  of  a  succession  of 
unrelated  statements  drawn  from  catalogues  which  would 
be  hardly  less  exasperating  to  the  reader  than  it  would  be 
for  him  to  follow,  successively,  the  outlines  as  presented  in 
the  catalogues  themselves.  Various  summaries  of  these 
outlines  have  been  made,  and  to  these  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred.^ 

An  attempt  is  here  made  to  set  forth  a  programme 
which  is  offered  as  a  suggestion,  upon  which  actual  courses 
may  be  based,  with  such  modifications  as  are  demanded  by 
local  conditions,  the  number  and  personal  training  of  the 
teaching  staff,  and  the  physical  equipment  available. 

The  task  before  the  college  art  instructor  is  to  culti- 
vate the  lay  student's  understanding  and  appreciation  of  the 
works  of  art  and  to  develop  an  ardent  enthusiasm  for  his 

1  Woodward,  W.  "  Art  Education  in  the  Colleges,"  Art  Education 
in  the  Public  Schools  of  the  United  States,  edited  by  J.  P.  Haney; 
American  Art  Annual,  New  York,  1908. 

Ankeney.  J.  S.,  Woodward,  W.,  Lake,  E.  J.,  "Final  Report  of  the 
G)mmittee  on  the  Condition  of  Art  Instruction  in  Colleges  and  Uni- 
versities." Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Western  Drawing 
and  Manual  Training  Association.  Minneapolis,  1910. 
Kelley,  C.  F.,  "  Art  Education."  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Education,  Vol.  I,  Chap.  XV,  Washington,  D.  C.  1915. 
Smith,  E.  B.,  The  Study  of  the  History  of  Art  in  the  Colleges  and 
Universities  of  the  United  States.  University  Press,  Princeton, 
1912. 


The  Teaching  of  Art 


481 


subject,  tempered  by  good  taste.  This  understanding  will 
be  based  upon  a  workable  body  of  principles  which  the 
student  can  use  in  making  his  artistic  estimates  and  choices. 
Such  a  body  of  principles  will  constitute  his  theory  of  art. 

Art  instruction  for  lay  students  may  be  presented  in  two 
ways: 

1.  By  the  study  of  theory  supplemented  by  the  experi- 


Two 

methods  of 
presenting 
art  In- 
struction 


mental  application  of  theory  to  practice,  as  by  drawing,   to  lay 

1      •  .  students 

design,  etc. 

2.  By  the  study  of  theory  supplemented  by  an  applica- 
tion of  theory  to  the  analysis  and  estimation  of  works  of 
art  as  they  are  presented  in  a  systematic  study  of  the  history 
of  art. 

Consider  now  the  relation  of  practice  and  history  to 
theory: 

First  as  to  practice:  Art  instructors  are  divided  into 
three  camps  on  the  question  of  giving  to  the  lay  student 
instruction  in  practice:  (1)  Those  who  believe  that  not  only 
is  practice  unnecessary  in  the  study  of  theory,  but  actually 
harmful;  (2)  those  who  believe  that  practice  will  aid  in  a 
study  of  the  theory  of  art;  (3)  Those  who  believe  that  prac- 
tice is  indispensable  and  who  would,  therefore,  require  that 
all  students  supplement  their  study  of  the  theory  of  art  by 
practice.  As  may  be  surmised,  by  far  the  largest  number 
of  advocates  is  found  in  the  middle  division. 

One  form  of  practice  is  Representation.  In  this  form 
the  student  begins  by  drawing  in  freehand  very  simple  ob- 
jects either  in  outline  or  mass,  and  proceeds  through  more 
advanced  exercises  in  drawing  from  still  life,  to  drawing 
and  painting  of  landscape  and  the  human  figure.  With  the 
addition  of  supplementary  studies,  such  as  anatomy,  per- 
spective, modeling,  composition,  craft  work,  theory,  history, 
etc.,  this  would  be,  broadly  speaking,  the  method  followed 
in  schools  of  art,  where  courses,  occupying  from  two  to  four 
or  five  years,  are  given,  intended  primarily  for  those  who 
expect  to  make  some  sort  of  creative  art  their  vocation. 

It  is  this  kind  of  work  which  opponents  to  practice  for 
the  lay  student  have  in  mind.     They  claim  that  only  by 


482 


College  Teaching 


Relative 
Talne  of 
freehand 
drawing 
and  design 


long  and  severe  training  can  he  produce  such  works  as 
will  give  satisfaction  to  him  or  to  others  who  examine  his 
handiwork.  They  contend  that  the  understanding  of  works 
of  art  is  not  dependent  upon  ability  to  produce  a  poor  ex- 
ample. They  offer  many  amusing  analogies  as  arguments 
against  practice  courses  for  lay  students.  They  maintain 
that  the  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating,  rather  than  in 
the  making;  that  to  enjoy  music  one  need  not  practice  five- 
finger  exercises;  that  other  creatures  than  domestic  fowls 
are  capable  of  judging  of  the  quality  of  eggs;  that  to  ap- 
preciate the  beauty  of  a  tapestry  it  is  not  necessary  to  ex- 
amine the  reverse  side.  It  will  perhaps  be  sufficient,  for 
the  present,  to  point  out  that  in  so  far  as  such  alleged  anal- 
ogies can  be  submitted  for  arguments,  they  are  equally  ap- 
plicable to  laboratory  courses  in  any  subject  which  is  stud- 
ied with  a  non-professional  or  non-vocational  purpose. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  such  a  course  as  that  outlined 
above  demands  a  large  amount  of  time,  compared  with  the 
results  attained;  and  while  successful  courses  in  Representa- 
tion are  offered  in  certain  colleges,  the  great  mass  of  col- 
lege students,  who  cannot  hope  to  acquire  a  high  degree  of 
skill,  would  hesitate  to  devote  a  large  part  of  their  train- 
ing to  technical  work,  even  if  college  faculties  were  willing 
to  grant  considerable  proportions  of  credit  for  it  toward  the 
bachelor  of  arts  degree. 

It  will  be  understood  by  the  reader  that  the  value  of  ele- 
mentary freehand  drawing  as  a  means  of  discipline  or  as  an 
aid  to  the  technical  student  is  not  under  discussion.  The 
value  of  drawing  as  a  fundamental  language  for  such  pur- 
poses is  universally  admitted.  The  questions  are  these: 
Can  some  form  of  practice  in  art  be  used  to  aid  in  the  under- 
standing of  the  principles  of  art?  Is  representative  draw- 
ing the  only  form  of  practice  available  for  the  lay  student 
who  undertakes  the  study  of  art?  Fortunately,  the  advo- 
cates of  practice  can  offer  an  alternative;  namely  Design. 
Mr.  Arthur  Dow  distinguishes  between  the  Drawing  method 
(Representation)  and  the  Design  method  by  calling 
the    former    Analytical    and    the    latter    Synthetical.     In 


The  Teaching  of  Art  483 

an  article  on  "  Archaism  in  Art  Teaching "  ^  he  says: 
"  I  wish  to  show  that  the  traditional  '  drawing  method  '  of 
teaching  art  is  too  weak  to  meet  the  new  art  criticism  and 
new  demands,  or  to  connect  with  vocational  and  industrial 
education  in  an  effective  way;  but  that  the  '  Design  method  ' 
is  broad  and  strong  enough  to  do  all  of  these  things." 

"The  drawing  method,"  he  continues,  "  is  analytic,  deal- 
ing with  the  small,  the  details,  the  application  of  art;  the 
design  method  is  synthetic,  dealing  with  wholes,  unities, 
principles  of  art." 

Mr.  Dow  carries  his  exposition  into  the  application  of  the 
Design  method  to  vocational  work,  but  it  can  be  used  with 
equal  effect  in  supplementing  the  lay  student's  study  of  art. 

But  the  questions  immediately  arise:  Is  not  a  prepara- 
tion as  long  and  arduous  required  to  make  a  designer  as  to 
make  a  painter  or  a  sculptor?  And  is  not  the  half-baked 
designer  in  as  sorry  a  plight  as  the  half-baked  artist  of  any 
kind?  The  answer  to  both  is  simple:  The  lay  student  is 
not  in  any  degree  a  painter  or  a  sculptor  or  a  designer, 
neither  is  he  in  training  for  any  of  these  professions.  The 
advantage  of  the  Design  method  is,  that  with  no  skill  what- 
soever in  drawing,  the  beginner  in  the  study  of  art  can  apply 
to  his  own  efforts  the  same  principles  of  design  which  have 
from  time  immemorial  entered  into  the  creation  of  great 
works  of  art.  The  college  freshman  planning  a  surface  de- 
sign with  the  aid  of  "  squared  "  paper  is  applying  the  same 
principles  that  guided  the  hand  of  Michelangelo  as  it  swept 
across  the  ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel. 

Such  principles  as  symmetry,  balance,  rhythm,  emphasis, 
harmony  in  form,  mass,  value,  and  color  can  be  inculcated 
by  solving  the  simplest  as  well  as  the  most  complicated 
problems.  A  graded  series  of  exercises  can  be  undertaken 
by  the  student  that  will,  with  a  comparatively  small  amount 
of  manual  skill  carry  him  a  considerable  distance  in  the 
understanding  of  the  principles  of  design  upon  which  all 
creative  art  rests.     Another  advantage  is  that,  in  the  process, 

*  Nineteenth  Annual  Report,  Western  Drawing  and  Manual  Training 
Association,  Cincinnati,  1912,  page  19. 


484  College  Teaching 

considerable  skill  in  freehand  drawing  also  can  be  acquired. 
But  this  advantage  is  merely  incidental. 

The  greatest  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  Design  method 
offers  to  the  student  an  excellent  means  of  self-expression. 
The  student,  through  no  fault  of  his,  is  too  prone  to  absorb 
and  too  little  inclined  to  yield  of  the  fruits  of  his  knowl- 
edge. Herein  lies  a  partial  remedy  for  the  tendency  of  col- 
lege students  to  make  receptacles  of  their  minds  into  which 
knowledge  is  poured  through  the  ear  by  listening  to  lec- 
tures, or  through  the  eye  by  reading.  Herein  is  a  means 
of  overcoming  mental  inertia,  for,  certainly,  the  solution 
of  a  problem  in  design  calls  for  thought  —  the  amount  of 
mental  exertion  being  commensurate  with  the  difficulty  of 
the  problem.  In  this,  the  Design  method  is  superior  to  the 
Representation  method,  though  it  would  be  an  error  to 
assume  that  freehand  drawing  is  chiefly  a  manual  opera- 
tion. Such  an  error  is  entertained  by  those  only  who  never 
have  learned  to  draw.  Another  considerable  value  lies 
in  the  fact  that  even  if  the  lay  student  of  design  should  in 
later  life  never  set  hand  to  paper, —  as  he  probably  will  not, 
any  more  than  he  who  has  taken  courses  in  drawing  and 
painting  will  ever  attempt  to  paint  a  picture, —  yet  he  has 
come  into  practical  contact  with  the  leading  principles  of 
art,  and  has  gained  a  knowledge  that  can  be  applied  not 
merely  to  the  discriminating  understanding  of  the  artistic 
qualities  of  the  exhibits  in  art  museums  or  in  private  gal- 
leries, but  to  the  art  of  every  day.  It  can  be  applied  to  the 
estimating  of  the  artistic  value  of  a  poster,  a  book  cover, 
or  a  title  page;  to  the  choosing  of  wall  paper;  to  the  arrang- 
ing of  the  furniture  in  a  room;  to  the  laying  out  of  a  garden; 
to  intelligent  cooperation  in  the  designing  of  a  house  or 
in  replanning,  on  paper  at  least,  the  street  system  of  a 
city;  or  to  the  selecting  of  a  design  for  a  public  memorial. 
It  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  in  thus  exercising  a  cultivated 
taste  he  would  always  make  conscious  application  of  the 
principles  of  design  in  making  his  estimates.  These  would 
have  so  entered  into  his  habit  of  thought  that  he  would 
unconsciously  make  what  Mr.  Dow  calls  "  fine  choices." 


The  Teaching  of  Art  485 

The  educational  value  of  the  Design  method  is  almost 
universally  recognized  in  the  art  departments  of  our  puhlic 
schools  and  in  our  art  schools,  and  it  is  probable  that  when 
its  aims  and  methods  are  better  understood  by  our  college 
faculties,  its  disciplinary,  cultural,  and  informative  value 
will  be  more  widely  recognized  in  the  college  of  liberal 
arts,  and  that  it  will  take  equal  rank  with  theme  and  report 
writing  as  a  means  of  cultivating  a  taste  for  literature,  with 
the  practice  of  harmony  and  counterpoint  as  a  means  of 
appreciating  music,  and  with  laboratory  work  in  acquiring 
knowledge  of  a  science. 

Next,   consider   art   history   as   a   means   of   inculcating  Arthia- 
the  principles  of  art.     It  is  evident  that  the  emotions  or   means  of 
feelings  of  the  artist  and  the  methods  he  employs  to  express  inculcating 
them  may  be  studied  in  such  masterpieces  as  the  Hermes  ©fart 
of  Praxiteles  and  the  Lincoln  of  St.  Gaudens.     In  either  he 
may  observe  the  application  of  the  principles  of  balance, 
mass,  repose,  harmony,  and  the  analysis  of  character.     In 
either  he  may  study  the  technique  which  involves  the  ma- 
terial of  the  statues,  the  tools  employed,  and  the  manner  of 
working. 

There  is,  however,  great  advantage  in  considering  such 
examples  in  their  place  in  the  evolution  of  art,  and  their 
significance  in  their  relation  to  the  social  and  political 
development  of  the  human  race  —  in  other  words,  in  study- 
ing systematically  the  history  and  development  of  art. 

Instruction  in  history  of  art  is  not  without  its  pitfalls. 
It  is  too  apt  to  lapse  into  a  mere  listing  of  names  and  dates 
of  artists  and  their  work,  with  the  introduction  of  interest- 
ing biographical  details  and  some  discussion  limited  to  the 
subjects  treated  in  selected  examples.  It  is  often  too  much 
concerned  with  who,  when,  and  where  and  not  sufficiently 
with  why  and  how.  A  person  may  possess  a  large  fund 
of  the  facts  of  art  history  and  yet  have  but  little  understand- 
ing or  appreciation  of  the  aims  and  underlying  principles 
of  art  production.  It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  for 
the  college  student  the  history  of  art  is  merely  a  convenient 
scheme  or  system  upon  which  to  base  discussions  of  the 


486 


College  Teaching 


Years  in 
which 
art  courses 
should  be 
offered 


Organiza- 
tion and 
content  of 
conrses  in 
art 


principles  of  art  as  involved  in  the  works  themselves,  an 
outline  for  the  study  of  the  artistic  affiliations  of  any  artist 
with  the  great  company  of  his  antecedents,  his  contem- 
poraries, and  his  successors.  The  instructor  should  never 
regard  practice  or  history  as  ends  in  themselves,  but  as 
means  to  the  development  of  the  understanding. 

In  some  colleges  only  the  more  advanced  students  are  per- 
mitted to  take  art  courses.  It  does  not  seem  wise  thus  to 
limit  the  years  in  which  courses  may  be  taken.  An  elemen- 
tary course  should  be  offered  in  the  freshman  year,  while 
other  courses  of  increasing  difficulty  should  be  offered  in 
each  of  the  succeeding  years.  The  greatest  variety  is  seen 
in  the  colleges  throughout  the  country  in  the  amount  of 
art  taught,  and  the  amount  of  credit  given  toward  the 
A.B.  degree.  When  the  subject  is  elected  as  a  "  minor," 
it  should  be  one-tenth  to  one-eighth  of  all  the  work  under- 
taken by  a  candidate  for  the  bachelor's  degree;  while  a 
"  major  "  elective  usually  should  cover  from  one-fifth  to 
one-fourth  of  all  the  work  of  a  candidate  for  the  same 
degree.  Some  zealous  advocates  maintain  that  a  certain 
amount  of  art  training  should  be  required  for  gradua- 
tion. Valuable  as  art  training  would  be  to  every 
graduate,  it  does  not  seem  wise  to  make  art  a  required 
subject  in  the  curriculum.  To  compel  men  and  women 
to  study  art  against  their  will  would  destroy  much  of  the 
charm  of  the  subject  both  for  the  teacher  and  the  student. 
Unless  the  subject  is  pursued  with  enthusiasm  by  both,  it 
loses  its  value. 

The  courses  suggested  are  as  follows: 

Course  I  (Freshman  year).  Introduction  to  the  study 
of  art.  A  study  of  the  various  forms  of  artistic  expres- 
sion, together  with  the  principles  which  govern  those 
forms.  The  study  would  be  carried  on  ( 1 )  by  means 
of  lectures,  (2)  by  discussions  led  by  the  instructor  and 
carried  on  by  members  of  the  class,  (3)  by  laboratory 
or  studio  practice  in  the  application  of  the  principles 
of  art  expression  to  graded  problems  in  design,  (4)  by 
collateral  reading,  (5)  by  the  occasional  writing  of  themes 


The  Teaching  of  Art  487 

and  reports,  (6)  by  excursions  to  art  collections  (public 
and   private),  arti^sts'  studios,  and  craft  shops. 

Some  of  the  topics  for  lectures  and  discussion  would 
be:  Primitive  art  and  the  factors  which  control  its  rise 
and  development;  principles  of  harmony;  design  in  the 
various  arts;  an  outline  study  of  historic  ornament;  com- 
position in  architecture,  painting,  and  sculpture;  concept 
in  art,  with  a  study  of  examples  drawn  from  the  master 
works  of  all  ages;  processes  in  the  artistic  crafts;  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  of  design  to  room  decoration. 

The  studio  or  laboratory  work  would  include:  Applica- 
tion of  the  principles  of  design;  spacing  of  lines  and 
spots;  borders  and  all-over  designs  achieved  by  repetition 
of  various  units;  studies  in  symmetry  and  balance;  color 
study,  including  hue,  value,  intensity;  exercises  in  color 
harmony;  problems  in  form  and  proportions,  decoration 
of  given  geometrical  areas;  applications  to  practical  uses; 
studies  in  form  and  color  from  still  life;  use  of  char- 
coal, brush,  pastel,  water  color;  simple  exercises  in 
pictorial  composition;  problems  in  simplification  neces- 
sitated by  technique;  application  of  principles  of  design 
to  room  decoration.  (This  course  would  be  prerequisite 
for  all  subsequent  courses  in  practice.) 

Course  II  {Sophomore  year).  A  general  course  in  the 
history  of  art.  A  consideration  of  the  development  of  the 
arts  of  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting  from  prehis- 
toric periods  to  recent  times.  In  this  course  emphasis 
would  be  laid  upon  the  periods  of  higher  attainments  in 
artistic  expression,  and  the  discussions  would  be  directed 
toward  the  qualities  of  great  masterpieces  rather  than 
toward  those  of  the  multitude  of  lesser  works. 

The  work  would  be  carried  on  (1)  by  means  of 
lectures;  (2)  by  discussions  led  by  the  instructor  and 
carried  on  by  members  of  the  class;  (3)  by  collateral 
reading;  (4)  by  study  of  original  works  of  art,  photo- 
graphs, and  other  forms  of  reproduction;  (5)  by  the 
writing  of  themes  and  reports;  (6)  by  visits  to  art 
galleries  and  artists'  studios.     (This  course  would  be  pre- 


488  College  Teaching 

requisite  for  all  subsequent  courses  in  history,  etc.) 
Following  these  two  general  courses  there  should  be 
two  groups  of  courses:  Group  A,  Practice  courses: 
Group  B,  History  courses.  Candidates  for  the  A.B.  de- 
gree who  expect  to  take  postgraduate  work  in  creative  art 
or  in  the  teaching  of  creative  art  would  elect  chiefly 
from  Group  A.  Lay  students  who  are  candidates  for  the 
A.B.  degree  and  who  expect  to  make  writing  or  criticism 
in  art,  or  teaching  of  art  to  lay  students,  or  art  museum 
work  their  vocation,  would  elect  chiefly  from  Group  B; 
as  would,  also,  those  composing  the  greater  number,  who 
study  art  as  one  means  of  acquiring  general  culture. 

In  the  following  lists  of  courses  the  grade  of  each 
course  is  indicated  oy  a  roman  numeral  placed  after  the 
title  of  the  course,  the  indications  being  as  follows: 

I.     Elementary    (primarily    for   freshmen   and   sopho- 
mores). 
II.     Intermediate      (primarily     for     sophomores     and 
juniors). 

III.  Advanced    (primarily  for  juniors  and  seniors). 

IV.  Graduate    (primarily   for   seniors   and   graduates). 

Beyond  these  indications  no  attempt  is  here  made  to  pre- 
scribe the  subdivisions  of  the  courses,  nor  the  number  of 
hours  per  week,  nor  the  number  of  weeks  per  year  in  each 
course. 

GROUP  a:     practice  courses 

Al  Freehand  Drawing.  (I)  Drawing  in  charcoal  and 
pencil  from  simple  objects,  plaster  casts,  still  life,  etc. 
Elements  of  perspective  with  elementary  problems. 

A2  Freehand  Drawing  {continued).  (II)  Drawing  in 
charcoal,  pencil,  pen  and  ink,  brush  (monochrome  in 
water  color)  from  plaster  casts,  still  life  and  the  costumed 
figure.     Out-of-door  sketching. 

A3  Color  (Water  Color  or  Oil  Color).  (II)  Drawing 
in  color  from  still  life  and  the  costumed  figure.  Out-of- 
door  sketching. 


The  Teaching  of  Art  489 

A4  Modeling.  (Ill)  Modeling  in  clay  from  casts  of 
antique  sculpture  and  of  architectural  ornament  as  an  aid 
to  tlie  study  of  form  and   proportion. 

A5  Advanced  Design.  (Ill)  Theory  and  practice.  (Con- 
tinuation of  Course  I.     Introduction  to  the  study  of  art.) 

A6,  A7,  .  .  .  etc.  Advanced  Courses  in  Drawing,  Paint- 
ing, Modeling,  and  Applied  Design  (IV)  selected  from  the 
following:  Studies  in  various  media  from  life.  Compo- 
sition. Illustration.  Portrait  work.  Practical  work  in 
pottery,  bookbinding,  enameling,  metal  work,  interior  deco- 
ration, wood  carving,  engraving,  etching.  These  courses 
would  be  supplemented  by  lectures  on  the  theory  and  prin- 
ciples of  art.  Topics  of  such  lectures  would  be:  Theory 
of  Design,  Composition,  Technique  of  the  Various  Arts, 
Artistic  Anatomy,  Perspective,  Shades  and  Shadows,  etc. 

• 

GROUP  b:     history  courses 

Bl  History  of  Ancient  Art.   (II) 
.B2  History  of  Roman  and  Medieval  Art.   (II) 
B3  History  of  Renaissance  Art  in  Italy.   (Ill) 
B4  History   of  Modern   Art.    (Ill)      History   of   art   in 
Western  Europe  during  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  cen- 
turies. 

B5,  B6,  .  .  .  etc.  History  of  iipecial  Periods;  Con- 
sideration of  Special  Forms  of  Art,  and  of  Great  Masters 
in  Art  (IV)  selected  from  the  following:  Art  of  Primi- 
tive Greece,  Greek  Sculpture,  Greek  Vases,  Early  Christian 
and  Byzantine  Architecture,  History  of  Mosaic;  Medieval 
Illumination;  Sienese  Painters  of  the  Thirteenth  and 
Fourteenth  Centuries;  Florentine  Painting;  Domestic 
Architecture  of  Various  Countries;  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
and  His  Works;  Art  of  the  Netherlands;  History  of 
Mural  Painting;  History  and  Principles  of  Engraving; 
Prints  and  Their  Makers;  Chinese  and  Japanese  Art;  Co- 
lonial Architecture  in  America;  Painting  and  Sculpture  in 
America,  etc.,  etc. 

No  attempt   will   here  be   made   to   comment   upon   the 


490 


College  Teaching 


Teaching 
equipment 
for  college 
courses  in 
art 


general  furnishing  and  equipment  of  lecture  rooms,  labora- 
tories, and  studios.  Nevertheless,  some  reference  to  the 
special  teaching  equipment  is  necessary  for  the  further 
consideration  of  the  methods  of  teaching. 

Illustrations  are  of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  study 
of  art.  The  best  illustrations  are  original  works  of  art. 
For  manifest  reasons  these  are  not  usually  available  in  the 
classroom,  and  the  teacher  is  dependent  upon  facsimiles 
and  other  reproductions.  These  take  the  form  of  copies^ 
replicas,  casts,  models,  photographs,  stereopticon  slides, 
prints  in  black  and  white  and  in  color,  including  the 
ubiquitous  picture  postal  card. 

The  collections  of  public  art  museums  and  of  private 
galleries  are  of  great  value  for  illustrative  purposes;  but 
of  still  greater  value  to  the  student  is  the  departmental 
museum,  with  which,  unfortunately,  but  few  colleges  are 
equipped.  Some  colleges  have  been  saddled  by  well-mean- 
ing donors  with  collections  of  various  kinds  of  works  of  art 
which  are  but  ill  related  to  the  instruction  given  in  the  de- 
partment of  art.  The  collections  of  the  college  museum 
need  not  be  large  but  they  should  be  selected  especially  with 
their  instructional  purpose  in  view.  The  problems  of  ex- 
pense debars  most  colleges  from  establishing  museums  of 
art;  but  with  a  modest  annual  appropriation  a  working  col- 
lection can  be  gradually  gathered  together.  A^  collection 
which  is  the  result  of  gradual  growth  and  of  careful  con- 
sideration will  usually  be  of  greater  instructional  value  than 
one  which  is  acquired  at  one  time. 

An  institution  which  owns  a  few  original  works  of 
painting,  sculpture,  and  the  crafts  of  representative  masters 
is  indeed  fortunate,  but  even  institutions  whose  expenditures 
for  this  purpose  are  slight  may  possess  at  least  a  few 
original  lithographs,  engravings,  etchings,  etc.,  in  its  col- 
lection of  prints. 

Fortunately,  there  are  means  whereby  some  of  the  un- 
obtainable originals  of  the  great  public  museums  and  pri- 
vate collections  of  the  world  may  be  represented  in  the 
college  museums  by  adequate  reproductions.     The  methods 


The  Teaching  of  Art  491 

of  casting  in  plaster  of  Paris,  in  bronze  and  other  ma- 
terials; of  producing  squeezes  in  papier  mache;  and  of 
reproducing  by  the  galvano-plastic  process,  are  used  for 
making  facsimiles  of  statues,  vases,  terra  cottas,  carved 
ivories,  inscriptions  and  other  forms  of  incised  work,  gems, 
coins,  etc.,  at  a  cost  which,  when  compared  with  that  of 
originals,  is  trivial.^  Paintings,  drawings,  engravings, 
etc.,  are  often  admirably  reproduced  by  various  photo- 
graphic and  printing  processes  in  color  or  black  and  white. 

Generally  speaking,  the  most  valuable  adjunct  of  the 
college  art  museum  or  of  the  college  art  library  is  the 
collection  of  photographs  properly  classified  and  filed  for 
ready  reference  by  the  instructor  or  student. 

A  specially  designed  museum  building  would  present 
opportunities  for  service  that  would  extend  beyond  the 
walls  of  the  art  department,  but  if  such  a  building  is  not 
available,  a  single  well-lighted  room  furnished  with  suit- 
able cabinets  and  wall  cases,  and  with  ample  wall  space 
for  the  display  of  paintings,  prints,  charts,  etc.,  would  be 
of  great  service. 

A  departmental  library  of  carefully  chosen  books  on  the 
theory,  history,  and  the  practice  of  the  various  arts,  to- 
gether with  current  and  bound  numbers  of  the  best  art 
periodicals  of  America  and  of  foreign  countries,  is  indis- 
pensable. 

Methods  will  naturally  depend  somewhat  upon  the  size  Methods  of 
of  the  class.  In  large  classes  —  of,  say,  more  than  forty 
—  the  lecture  method,  supplemented  by  section  meetings 
and  conferences,  would  usually  be  followed.  In  the  fol- 
lowing discussion  it  is  assumed  that  the  classes  will  not 
exceed  forty. 

Under  the  head  of  Methods  of  Teaching  are  here  in- 
cluded:    Work  in  Class  and  Work  outside  of  Class. 

The  work  in  class  consists  of  lectures;  discussions  by  the 
members  of  the  class;  laboratory  or  studio  work;  excur- 
sions.    There  is  no  worse  method   than  that  of  exclusive 

1  Robinson,  D.  M.,  "  Reproductions  of  Classical  Art,"  Art  and  Archae- 
ology, Vol.  V,  No.  4,  pages  221-234. 


492  Collcqe  Teaching 

lecturing  by  the  instructor.  If  the  methods  employed  do 
not  induce  the  student  to  do  his  own  thinking,  they  have 
but  little  value.  Much  of  the  instructor's  time  will  be  oc- 
cupied in  devising  methods  by  which  the  students  them- 
selves will  contribute  to  their  own  and  their  fellows'  ad- 
vancement. 

Discussions  led  by  the  instructor  and  carried  on  by  the 
members  of  the  class  should  be  frequent.  From  time  to 
time  a  separate  division  of  a  general  topic  should  be  as- 
signed to  each  member  of  the  class,  who  will  prepare  him- 
self to  present  his  part  of  the  topic  before  the  class  either 
by  reading  a  paper  or  otherwise.  Discussions  by  the 
members  of  the  class,  concluded  by  the  instructor,  should 
generally  follow  this  presentation.  Topics  for  investiga- 
tion, study,  and  discussion  should  be  so  selected  as  to  re- 
quire the  students  to  make  application  of  their  study  to 
their  daily  life  and  environment.  In  this  way  their  critical 
interest  in  the  design  of  public  and  private  buildings,  of 
monuments,  and  of  the  innumerable  art  productions  which 
they  see  about  them  would  be  stimulated. 

For  the  purpose  of  illustrating  lectures  and  aiding  in 
discussions,  prints  and  photographs  may  be  shown  either 
directly  or  through  the  medium  of  the  reflectoscope.  Or, 
they  may  be  transferred  to  lantern  slides  and  shown  by 
means  of  the  stereopticon.  To  a  limited  extent  the  Lu- 
miere  color  process  has  been  used  in  preparing  slides. 

The  methods  of  laboratory  and  studio  work  have  already 
been  briefly  treated  under  the  head  of  Courses  of  Instruc- 
tion, and  hardly  need  to  be  further  amplified  here. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  original  works  of  art 
are  the  best  illustrations,  and  that  these  are  but  rarely 
available  within  the  walls  of  the  college.  Instructors  in 
institutions  which  are  situated  within  or  near  to  large 
centers  of  population  can  usually  supply  this  deficiency 
by  arranging  visits  to  museums  and  other  places  where 
works  of  art  are  preserved  and  exhibited;  and  to  artists' 
studios  and  to  workshops  where  works  of  art  are  produced. 
Instructors  in  institutions  which  are  not  so  situated  may 


The  Teaching  of  Art  493 

supply  the  deficiency,  in  some  measure,  by  arranging  for 
temporary  exhibitions  in  the  museum  or  other  rooms  of  the 
department.  Rotary  exhibitions  of  paintings,  prints,  craft- 
work,  sculpture,  designs,  examples  of  students'  work,  etc., 
may  be  arranged  whereby  groups  of  institutions  within  con- 
venient distances  from  each  other  may  share  the  benefits 
offered  by  such  exhibitions,  as  well  as  the  expense  of  as- 
semblage, transportation,  and  insurance.  In  arranging  for 
such  temporary  exhibitions  it  is  essential  that  only  works 
of  the  highest  quality,  of  their  kind,  should  be  selected. 

Selections  can  best  be  made  personally  by  the  instructor 
or  by  capable  and  trustworthy  agents  who  are  thoroughly 
informed  as  to  the  purpose  of  the  exhibition  and  as  to  the 
needs  of  the  institutions  forming  the  circuits.  Such  rotary 
exhibitions  possess  a  wider  usefulness  than  that  of  serving 
as  illustrative  material  for  the  college  department  of  art: 
they  serve  also  as  an  artistic  stimulus  to  the  members  of  the 
college  at  large,  and  to  the  community  in  which  the  college 
is  situated.^ 

The  work  of  students  outside  of  class  has  already  been 
mentioned.  It  consists  of  collateral  reading,  the  study  of 
prints  and  photographs,  and  the  preparation  of  written 
themes  and  reports.  Notwithstanding  the  lavish  produc- 
tion of  books  relating  to  art,  there  are  but  very  few  that 
are  suitable  for  use  as  college  textbooks.  The  instructor 
will  usually  assign  collateral  reading  from  various  authors. 

In  attempting  to  measure  the  success  or  failure  of  the  Testing 
work,  the  teacher  must  ask  himself.  What  do  our  college  artin- 
graduates  who  have  taken  art  courses  possess  that  is  lack-   stmction 
ing  in  those  who  have  not  taken  such  courses? 

The  immediate  test  of  the  results  of  the  work  is  in  the 
attitude  of  mind  of  the  students.  Do  they  think  differently 
about  works  of  art  from  what  they  did  before  entering  the 
courses?  Is  there  a  change  in  their  habit  of  thought? 
Have  they  done  no  more  than  accept  the  lessons  they  have 

1  Rotary  art  exhibitions  for  educational  purposes  are  arranged  by 
the  American  Federation  of  Arts,  1741,  New  York  Avenue,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 


494  College  Teaching 

been  taught,  or  have  they  so  absorbed  them  and  made  them 
their  own  that  they  are  capable  of  self-expression  in  mak- 
ing their  estimates  of  works  of  art?  These  questions  may 
be  answered  by  the  result  of  the  written  examination  and 
by  the  oral  quiz. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  chief  purpose  of  art  in- 
struction in  the  college  is  to  supply  a  lack  in  our  national 
and  private  life.  Citizens  of  the  older  communities  of 
Europe  pass  their  lives  among  the  accumulated  art  treasures 
of  past  ages.  The  mere  daily  contact  with  such  forms  of 
beauty  engenders  a  taste  for  them.  Partly  through  our 
Puritan  origin,  partly  through  our  preoccupation  with  the 
development  of  the  material  resources  of  our  country,  we, 
as  a  people,  have  failed  to  cultivate  some  of  the  imponder- 
able things  of  the  spirit.  So  far  as  we  have  had  to  do 
with  its  creation,  our  environment  in  town  and  village  is 
generally  lacking  in  artistic  charm. 

The  study  by  lay  students  of  the  art  of  the  past  has 
one  chief  object;  namely,  to  train  them  to  understand  the 
works  of  the  masters  in  order  that  they  may  discriminate 
between  what  is  beautiful  and  what  is  meretricious  in  the 
art  of  the  present  day;  to  learn  the  lessons  of  art  from 
the  monoliths  of  Egypt,  the  tawny  marbles  of  ancient 
Greece,  the  balanced  thrusts  of  the  Gothic  cathedral,  the 
gracious  and  reverent  harmonies  of  the  primitives,  the 
delicate  handicrafts  of  the  Orient,  the  splendors  of  the 
Renaissance,  the  vibrant  colors  of  the  latest  phase  of  im- 
pressionism, and  to  apply  these  lessons  in  the  search  for 
hidden  elements  of  beauty  in  nature  and  art  in  their  own 
country  and  in  their  own  lives  and  surroundings. 

Believing,  as  he  does,  in  the  value  of  artistic  culture, 
it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  college  art  instructor  to  teach 
with  enthusiasm  unmarred  by  prejudice;  to  cultivate  in 
the  minds  of  his  students  a  catholic  receptivity  to  all  that 
is  sincere  in  artistic  expression;  to  open  up  avenues  of 
thought  in  the  minds  of  those  whose  lives  would  otherwise 
be  barren  of  artistic  sympathy;  to  cull  the  best  from  the 
experience  of  the  past,  and,  by  its  help,  to  impart  to  his 


The  Teaching  of  Art  495 

hearers  some  of  his  own  enthusiasm;  for  their  lives  cannot 
fail  to  touch  at  some  point  the  borderlands  of  the  magic 
realm  of  art. 

Holmes  Smith 

Washington  University 

Bibliography 

Ankeney.  J.  S.,  Lake,  E.  J.,  and  Woodward,  W.  Final  Report  of 
the  Committee  on  the  Condition  of  Art  Work  in  Colleges  and 
Universities.  Western  Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Associa- 
tion.    Oak  Park,  Illinois,  1910. 

Ankeney,  J.  S.  The  Place  and  Scope  of  Art  Education  in  the  Uni- 
versity. Western  Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Association, 
16th  Annual  Report.     St.  Louis,  1909. 

Beaux,  Celia.  What  Instruction  in  Art  Should  the  College  A.B. 
Course  Offer  to  the  Future  Artists?  The  American  Magazine  of 
Art.    Washington.  D.  C,  October,  1916. 

Blayney,  T.  L.  The  History  of  Art  in  the  College  Curriculum.  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  American  Federation  of  Arts.  Washington,  D.  C, 
1910. 

Brooks,  Alfred.  The  Study  of  Art  in  Universities.  Education. 
Boston,  February,  1901. 

Churchill,  A.  V.  Art  in  the  College  Course.  The  Smith  Alumnce 
Quarterly.     New  York,  February,  1915. 

Clopath,  H.  The  Scope  and  Organization  of  Art  Instruction  in  the 
A.  B.  Course.  Western  Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Associa- 
tion, 17th  Annual  Report.     Oak  Park,  Illinois,  1910. 

Cross,  H.  R.  The  College  Degree  in  Fine  Arts.  Western  Drawing 
and  Manual  Training  Association,  17th  Annual  Report.  Oak 
Park,  Illinois,  1910. 

Dow,  A.  W.  Anarchism  in  Art  Teaching.  Western  Drawing  and 
Manual  Training  Association,  19th  Annual  Report.  Cincinnati, 
1912. 

Dow,  A.  W.  Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching  Art.  Teachers  Col- 
lege, Columbia  University.     2d  edition.     New  York,  1912. 

Dow,  A.  W.  Modernism  in  Art.  The  American  Magazine  of  Art. 
New  York,  January,  1917. 

Frederick,  F.  F.  The  Study  of  Fine  Art  in  American  Colleges  and 
Universities;  Its  Relation  to  the  Study  in  Public  Schools.  Ad- 
dresses and  Proceedings  of  the  National  Education  Association. 
Detroit,  1901. 

Heller,  O.  Art  as  a  Liberal  Study.  Western  Drawing  and  Manual 
Training  Association,  17th  Annual  Report.  Oak  Park,  Illinois, 
1910. 

Jastrow,  J.    The  place  of  the  Study  of  Art  in  a  College  Course. 


490  College  Teaching 

Western  Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Association.  Oak  Park, 
Illinois,  1910. 

Kelley,  C.  F.  Art  in  American  Universities.  Nation,  91:  74.  New 
York,  July  28,  1910. 

Kelley,  C.  F.  Art  Education.  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Edu- 
cation (Department  of  Interior,  Bureau  of  Education*.  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  1915. 

Leonard,  William  J.  The  Place  of  Art  in  the  American  College. 
Education,  32;  597-607.     Boston,  June,  1912. 

Low,  W.  H.  The  Proposed  Department  of  Art  in  Columbia  Uni- 
versity.    Scribner's  Magazine.     New  York,  December,  1902. 

Mann,  F.  M.  Cooperaton  among  Art  Workers  in  Universities.  West- 
ern Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Association,  16th  Annual  Re- 
port.   St.  Louis,  1909. 

Marshall,  H.  R.  The  Relation  of  the  University  to  the  Teaching  of 
Art.     Architectural  Record.     New  York,  April,  1903. 

Monroe,  Paul  (editor).  Art  in  Education,  etc.  Cyclopedia  of  Edu- 
cation.    The  Macmillan  (Company,  New  York,  1911. 

Norton,  C.  E.  The  Educational  Value  of  the  History  of  Art.  Edu- 
cational Review,  New  York,  April,  1895. 

Phillips,  Duncan.  What  Instruction  in  Art  Should  the  College  A.B. 
Course  Offer  to  the  Future  Writer  on  Art?  The  American  Mag- 
azine of  Art.     New  York,  March,  1917. 

PiCKARD,  J.  Message  of  Art  for  the  Collegian.  The  American  Mag- 
azine of  Art.     Washington,  D.  C,  February,  1916. 

Robinson,  D.  M.  Reproductions  of  Classical  Art.  Art  and  Archoeol- 
ogy.'    Washington,  D.  C,  April,  1917. 

Sarcemt,  W.  Instruction  in  Art  in  the  United  States.  Biennial  Sur- 
vey of  Education  in  the  United  States  1916-18  (Department  of 
the  Interior,  Bureau  of  Education).     Washington,  D.  C. 

Seelye,  L.  C.  The  Place  of  Art  in  the  Smith  College  Curriculum. 
Educational  Review.     New  York,  January,  1904. 

Smith,  E.  B.  The  History  of  Art  in  the  Colleges  and  Universities  of 
the  United  States.     Princeton  University  Press.     Princeton,  1912. 

Smith,  Holmes.  Art  as  an  Integral  Part  of  University  Work.  West- 
ern Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Association,  16th  Annual  Re- 
port.   St.  Louis,  1909. 

Smith,  Holmes.  The  Future  of  the  University  Round  Table.  West- 
ern Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Association.  Oak  Park,  Illi- 
nois, 1910. 

Smith,  Holmes,  Lake,  E.  J.,  and  Marquand,  A.  The  College  Art 
Association  of  America.  Report  of  Committee  Appointed  to  In- 
vestigate the  Condition  of  Art  Instruction  in  the  Colleges  and 
Universities  of  the  United  States.  School  and  Society.  Garri- 
son, New  York,  August  26,  1916. 


The  Teaching  of  Art  497 

Stanley,  H.  M.  Our  Education  and  the  Progress  of  Art.  Education. 
Boston,  October,  1890. 

Swift,  F.  H.  What  Art  Does  for  Life.  Western  Drawing  and  Man- 
ual Training  Association,  18th  Annual  Report.  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, 1911, 

Sylvester,  F.  0.  Esthetic  and  Practical  Values  in  Art  Courses. 
Western  Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Association,  16th  Annual 
Report.     St.  Louis,  1909. 

Waldstein.  C.  The  Study  of  Art  in  Universities.  Harper  &  Broth- 
ers.    New  York,  18%. 

Walker,  C.  H.  Art  in  Education.  Western  Drawing  and  Manual 
Training  Association,  16th  Annual  Report.     St.  Louis,  1909. 

Woodward,  W.  Art  Education  in  the  Colleges.  Art  Education  in  the 
Public  Schools  of  the  United  States.  American  Art  Annual. 
New  York,  1908. 

WuERPEL,  E.  H.  The  Relation  of  the  Art  School  to  the  University. 
Western  Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Association,  16th  Annual 
Report.    St.  Louis,  1909. 

Zantzincer,  C.  C.  Report  of  Committee  on  Education.  Proceedings 
of  the  47th  Annual  Convention  of  the  American  Institute  of  Arch- 
itects.    Washington,  D.  C,  December,  1913. 

Note.  For  numerous  discussions  of  problems  of  college  art  teaching, 
the  Bulletins  of  the  College  Art  Association  of  America  may  be  con- 
sulted. 


PART  SIX 
Vocational  Subjects 

CHAPTKB 

XXV    The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects 
Ira  O.  Baker 

XXVI    The  Teaching  of  Mechanical  Drawing 

/.  D.  Phillips  and  H.  D.  Orth 

XXVII    The  Teaching  of  Journalism 

Talcott  Williams 

XXVIII    Business  Education 

Frederick  B.  Robinson 


XXV 

THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGINEERING  SUBJECTS 

EACH  of  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  volume  treats 
of  a  subject  which  is  substantially  a  unit  in  method 
and  content;  but  the  subjects  assigned  to  this  .chapter  in- 
clude a  variety  of  topics  which  are  quite  diverse  in  scope 
and  character.  For  example,  such  subjects  as  German  and 
physics  represent  the  work  of  single  collegiate  departments; 
while  engineering  subjects  represent  substantially  the  en- 
tire work  of  an  engineering  college,  of  which  there  are 
many  in  this  country,  each  having  a  thousand  or  more 
students.  It  is  necessary,  then,  to  inquire  as  to  the  scope 
of  this  chapter. 

I.    SCOPE    OF    THIS    CHAPTER 

The   contents   of   the   representative   four-year  engineer-  Contents 
ing  curriculum  of  the  leading  institutions  may  be  classified  ingcur- 
about  as  in  the  table  on  page  502.     In  addition  to  the  sub-  ^cuia 
jects  listed,  most  institutions  require  freshmen  to  take  gym- 
nasium practice  and  lectures  on  hygiene,  and  many  colleges 
require    freshmen,    and    some    also    sophomores,    to    take 
military  drill  and  tactics.     Formerly  faiany  institutions  re- 
quired all  engineering  freshmen  to  take  elementary  shop 
work;  but  at  present  in  most  institutions  this  practice  has 
been  discontinued,  owing  to  the  establishment  of  manual- 
training  high  schools  and  to  the  development  of  other  en- 
gineering subjects. 

The  order  of  the  subjects  varies  somewhat  in  the  dif- 
ferent institutions.  For  example,  instead  of  as  in  the  table 
on  page  502,  rhetoric  may  be  given  in  the  sophomore  year 
and  language  in  the  first.  Again,  in  some  institutions  a  lit- 
tle technical  work  is  given  in  the  freshman  year.  Further, 
the  total  number  of  semester-hours  varies  somewhat  among 
the  different  institutions.  However,  the  table  is  believed 
to  be  fairly  representative. 

501 


502 


College  Teaching 


Contents  of  Engineering  Curricula 

The  unit  is  a  semester-hour;  i.e.,  five  class-periods  a  week  for 

half  a  year. 


GENERAL  SUBJECT 


COLLEGIATE  YEAR 


II 


III 


IV 


TOTAL 


Mechanical  drawing  and  de- 
scriptive geometry 

Rhetoric  

Modern  language 

Pure  mathematics 

Science  —  physical  and  social. 

Theoretical  and  applied  me- 
chanics    

Technical  engineering 

Total 


10 
6 

10 
10 


36 


8 
8 
9 

3 
8 

36 


10 
20 

36 


32 
36 


10 

6 

8 

18 

29 

13 
60 

144 


The  dif- 
ferent en- 
gineering 
curricula 


Below  is  a  list  of  the  principal  four-year  curricula  oflfered 
by  the  engineering  colleges  of  this  country.  The  list  con- 
tains forty  different  engineering  curricula.  No  one  in- 
stitution offers  all  of  these,  but  some  of  the  larger  and 
better  equipped  offer  fifteen  or  sixteen  different  curricula 
for  which  a  degree  is  given. 

1.  Architecture  (which  is  usually  classified  as  an  en- 
gineering subject) :  general  architecture;  architectural  de- 
sign; architectural  construction. 

2.  Ceramics  engineering:  general  ceramics  and  ceramics 
engineering;   ceramics;   ceramics  engineering. 

3.  Chemical  engineering:  general  chemical  engineering; 
metallurgical  engineering;  gas  engineering;  pulp  and 
paper  engineering;    electro-chemical   engineering. 

4.  Civil  engineering:  general  civil  engineering;  railway 
civil  engineering;  municipal  engineering;  structural  en- 
gineering; topographic  or  geodetic  engineering;  hydraulic 
engineering;   irrigation  engineering;   highway  engineering. 

5.  Electrical  engineering:  general  electrical  engineering; 
telephone  engineering;  electrical  design;  power-plant  de- 
sign; electrical  railway  engineering. 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     503 

6.  Marine  engineering:  general  marine  engineering; 
naval   architecture;    marine  engineering. 

7.  Mechanical  engineering:  general  mechanical  engi- 
neering; steam  engineering;  railway  mechanical  engineer- 
ing; hydro-mechanical  engineering;  machine  design  and 
construction;  heating,  ventilating,  and  refrigerating;  in- 
dustrial engineering;  automobile  engineering;  aeronautical 
engineering. 

8.  Mining  engineering:  general  mining  engineering; 
metallurgical  engineering;  coal  mining;  ore  mining. 

The  first  engineering  curriculum  established  was  civil 
engineering,  which  was  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from 
military  engineering.  At  first  the  course  contained  only 
a  little  technical  work,  but  in  course  of  time  specialized 
work  was  increased;  and  later  courses  were  established  in 
mining  and  mechanical  engineering,  and  more  recently 
followed  specialized  courses  in  architecture,  electrical  en- 
gineering, marine  engineering,  chemical  engineering,  and 
ceramic  engineering  —  about  in  the  order  named.  The 
order  of  the  various  special  courses  in  the  several  groups 
above  is  roughly  that  of  their  establishment. 

In  the  preceding  list  are  eight  groups  of  curricula,  each  Number 

fi-i  -1  ^^r  ,..       ofengi- 

01  which  contams  about  60  semester-hours  peculiar  to  it-  ne«ring 
self;  and,  considering  only  a  single  curriculum  in  each  "o^J^^s 
of  the  eight  groups,  there  are  480  semester-hours  of 
specialized  work.  In  addition  there  are  in  the  list  thirty- 
two  subdivisions,  each  of  which  differs  from  the  parent 
by  at  least  10  semester-hours.  Hence  the  total  number 
of  engineering  subjects  offered  is  at  least  800  semester- 
hours.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  for  administrative  rea- 
sons, each  3  semester-hours  on  the  average  represents  a 
distinct  title  or  topic,  and  that  therefore  the  engineering 
colleges  of  the  country  offer  instruction  in  267  different 
engineering  subjects. 

However,  the  diversity  is  not  so  great  as  the  preceding 
statement  seems  to  imply,  since  for  convenience  in  program 
making  and  in  bookkeeping  many  subjects  are  listed  under 
two  or  more  heads.     For  example,  a  subject  which  runs 


504  College  Teaching 

through  two  semesters  will  for  administrative  reasons  ap- 
pear under  two  different  heads  in  the  above  computations. 
Again,  the  lecture  or  textbook  work  in  a  subject  will  usually 
appear  under  one  head  and  the  laboratory  work  under 
a  separate  title.  Finally,  some  subjects  which  differ  but 
little  in  character  may  for  convenience  be  listed  under  two 
different  titles.  If  the  subjects  that  are  subdivided  for 
the  above  reasons  were  listed  under  a  single  head,  the 
number  of  topics  would  be  reduced  something  like  20  to 
25  per  cent. 

Therefore,  the  topics  of  engineering  instruction  which 
differ  materially  in  character  number  about  200.  This, 
then,  is  the  field  assigned  to  this  chapter.  Obviously  it  is 
impossible  to  consider  the   several   subjects   separately. 

II.    DIFFERENTIATION   IN   ENGINEERING    CURRICULA 

For  a  considerable  number  of  years  there  has  been  much 
discussion  by  both  college  teachers  and  practicing  engin- 
eers concerning  differentiation  in  engineering  curricula; 
and  the  usual  conclusion  is  that  undue  differentiation  is 
detrimental.  But  nevertheless  specialization  has  gone  on 
comparatively  rapidly  and  extensively  —  as  shown  in  the 
previous  article.  Since  the  degree  of  differentiation  deter- 
mines in  a  large  measure  (1)  the  spirit  with  which  a 
student  does  his  work,  (2)  the  method  of  teaching  that 
should  be  employed,  and  (3)  the  results  obtained,  it  will 
be  wise  briefly  to  consider  the  merits  of  specialization. 
The  arguments  against  specialization  have  been  more 
widely  and  more  earnestly  presented  than  those  in  favor  of 
specialization.  The  usual  arguments  pro  and  con  may 
be  summarized   as  follows: 

1.  It  is  frequently  claimed  that  the  undergraduate  is  in- 
capable of  wisely  choosing  a  specialty,  and  that  hence 
specialization  should  come  after  a  four-year  course, —  i.  e., 
in  the  graduate  school  or  by  self-instruction  after  gradua- 
tion. But  the  parents  and  friends  of  a  student  usually 
help  him  in  deciding  upon  a  profession  or  on  a  special 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     505 

line  of  study,  and  therefore  it  is  not  likely  that  a  very 
serious  mistake  will  be  made.  Of  necessity  a  decision 
must  be  made  whether  or  not  to  seek  a  college  education; 
and  a  decision  must  also  be  made  between  the  great  fields 
of  knowledge, —  liberal  arts,  agriculture,  engineering,  etc. 
If  the  student  decides  to  take  any  branch  of  engineer- 
ing, he  usually  has  his  whole  freshman  year  in  which  to 
make  a  further  specialization.  At  the  end  of  the  soph- 
omore year  the  specialization  has  not  gone  very  far; 
and  therefore  if  the  student  finds  he  has  made  a  mistake, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  change. 

2.  "  The  undergraduate  seldom  knows  the  field  of  his 
future  employment,  and  hence  does  not  have  the  data 
necessary  for  an  intelligent  decision."  The  young  man 
will  never  have  all  of  the  data  for  such  a  decision  until 
he  has  actually  worked  in  that  field  for  a  time,  and  there 
is  no  reason  why  he  should  not  make  a  decision  and  try 
some  particular  line  of  preparation. 

3.  Some  opponents  of  specialization  claim  that  the  more 
general  the  engineering  training,  the  easier  to  obtain  em- 
ployment after  graduation;  but  this  is  not  in  harmony  with 
the  facts.  The  opposite  is  more  nearly  true.  For  ex- 
ample, who  ever  heard  of  a  practicing  engineer  preferring 
a  liberal  arts  student  to  a  civil  engineering  student  as  a 
rodman? 

4.  Specialized  courses  require  that  the  college  should 
have  larger  equipment  and  a  more  versatile  staff.  The 
larger  institutions  can  prepare  for  specialized  sections 
nearly  as  easily  and  cheaply  as  for  duplicate  sections;  and 
institutions  having  only  a  few  students  or  meager  financial 
support  should  not  offer  highly  specialized  courses. 

5.  The  opponents  of  specialization  claim  that  to  be  a 
successful  specialist  one  should  have  a  broad  training, 
and  that  therefore  the  broader  the  curriculum  the  better. 
It  is  true  that  to  be  a  successful  specialist  requires  a 
considerable  breadth  of  knowledge,  but  that  does  not  prove 
that  the  student  should  be  required  to  get  all  of  his  general 
knowledge  before   he  gives   attention   to  matters   peculiar 


506  College  Teaching 

to  his  specialty.  No  engineer  can  be  reasonably  success- 
ful in  any  field  with  only  the  knowledge  obtained  in  col- 
lege, whether  that  be  general  or  special. 

6.  It  is  claimed  that  specialization  should  be  postponed 
to  a  fifth  year.  It  seems  to  have  been  settled  by  experi- 
ence that  four  years  is  about  the  right  length  of  the  college 
course  for  the  average  engineering  student,  and  that  in 
that  time  he  should  test  his  fitness  and  liking  for  his 
future  work  by  studying  some  of  the  subjects  relating  to 
his  proposed  specialized  field. 

7.  The  chief  reason  in  favor  of  specialization  is  that  the 
field  of  knowledge  is  so  vast  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  every  college  student  —  engineering  or  otherwise  — 
to  specialize;  and  in  engineering  this  specialization  is 
vitally  important,  since  fundamental  principles  can  be 
taught  most  effectively  in  connection  with  their  application 
to  specialized  problems.  In  no  other  way  is  it  possible 
to  invest  theoretical  principles  with  definite  meaning  to  the 
student,  and  by  this  process  it  is  possible  to  transform 
abstract  theory  into  glowing  realities  which  under  a  com- 
petent teacher  arouse  the  student's  interest  and  even  his 
enthusiasm. 

8.  Specialization  in  engineering  curricula  is  a  natural 
outgrowth  of  the  evolution  of  engineering  knowledge,  and 
is  in  harmony  with  sound  principles  of  teaching.  For 
example,  all  engineering  students  should  have  a  certain 
amount  of  mechanical  drawing;  but  the  best  results  will 
be  obtained  if  the  civil  engineer,  after  a  study  of  the 
elementary  principles,  continues  his  practice  in  drawing 
by  making  maps,  while  the  mechanical  engineer  continues 
his  by  making  details  of  machinery.  Both  will  do  their 
work  with  more  zest  and  much  more  efficiency  than  if  both 
were  compelled  to  make  drawings  which  meant  nothing 
to  them  except  practice  in  the  art  of  drawing.  Similar 
illustration  can  be  found  throughout  any  well-arranged 
engineering  curriculum.  A  vitally  essential  element  in 
any  educational  diet  is  that  the  subject  shall  not  pall  upon 
the  appetite  of  the  student.     He  should  go   to  every   in- 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     507 

tellectual  meal  with  a  hearty  gusto.  The  specialized 
course  appeals  more  strongly  to  the  ambition  of  the  student 
than  a  general  course.  The  engineering  student  selects 
a  specialized  course  because  he  has  an  ambition  to  become 
an  architect,  a  chemical  engineer,  a  civil  engineer,  or  per- 
haps a  bridge  engineer,  a  highway  engineer,  a  mechanical 
engineer,  or  perhaps  a  heating  engineer  or  an  automobile 
engineer;  and  having  an  opportunity  to  study  subjects  in 
which  he  is  specially  interested,  he  works  with  zest  and 
usually  accomplishes  much  more  than  a  student  who  is 
pursuing  a  course  of  study  only  remotely,  if  at  all,  re- 
lated to  the  field  of  his  proposed  activities  after  leaving 
college.  Further,  the  more  specialized  the  course,  the 
greater  the  energy  with  which  the  student  will   work. 

Many  of  those  who  have  discussed  specialization  seem 
to  assume  that  the  only,  or  at  least  the  chief,  purpose  of 
an  engineering  education  is  to  give  technical  information, 
and  that  specialization  is  synonymous  with  superficiality. 
From  this  point  of  view  the  aim  of  a  college  education 
is  to  give  a  student  information  useful  in  his  future  work, 
and  the  inevitable  result  is  that  the  student  has  neither 
the  intellectual  power  nor  the  technical  knowledge  to  en- 
able him  to  render  efficient  service  in  any  position  in  which 
he  will  work  whole-heartedly.  The  weakness  and  super- 
ficiality of  such  a  student,  it  is  usually  said,  is  due  to  ex- 
cessive specialization,  while  in  reality  it  is  primarily  due 
to  wrong  methods  of  teaching.  Within  reasonable  limits 
specialization  has  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  result; 
and  under  certain  conditions,  as  previously  stated,  speciali- 
zation helps  rather  than  hinders  intellectual  development. 
If  a  subject  has  real  educational  value  and  is  so  taught  as 
to  train  a  student  to  see,  to  analyze,  to  discriminate,  to 
describe,  the  more  the  specialization  the  better;  but  if  a 
subject  is  taught  chiefly  to  give  unrelated  information 
about  details  of  practice,  the  more  the  specialization  the 
less  the  educational  value. 

10.  Experience  has  conclusively  shown  that  an  engineer- 
ing student  is  very  likely  to  slight  a  general  subject  in  favor 


508 


College  Teaching 


of  a  simultaneous  technical  or  specialized  subject.  This 
fact,  together  with  the  necessity  of  a  fixed  sequence  in 
technical  engineering  subjects,  makes  it  practically  impos- 
sible to  secure  any  reasonable  work  in  most  general  sub- 
jects when  a  student  is  at  the  same  time  carrying  one  or 
more  technical  studies.  For  these  reasons  it  is  necessary 
to  make  the  later  years  of  the  curriculum  nearly  wholly 
technical,  which  makes  specialization  possible,  if  it  does 
not  invite  it. 


Disciplinary 
T&lnes  of 
engineering 
anbjects 


III.    AIM    OF    ENGINEERING   EDUCATION 

The  three  elements  of  engineering  education,  as  indeed 
of  all  education,  should  be  development,  training,  and  in- 
formation. The  first  is  the  attainment  of  intellectual 
power,  the  capacity  for  abstract  conception  and  reasoning. 
The  second  includes  the  formation  of  correct  habits  of 
thought  and  methods  of  work;  the  cultivation  of  the  ability 
to  observe  closely,  to  reason  correctly,  to  write  and  speak 
clearly;  and  the  training  of  the  hand  to  execute.  The  third 
includes  the  acquisition  of  the  thoughts  and  experiences  of 
others,  and  of  the  truths  of  nature.  The  development  of 
the  mental  faculties  is  by  far  the  most  important,  since 
it  alone  confers  that  "  power  which  masters  all  it  touches, 
which  can  adapt  old  forms  to  new  uses,  or  create  new  and 
better  means  of  reaching  old  ends."  Without  this  power 
the  engineer  cannot  hope  to  practice  his  profession  with 
any  chance  of  success.  The  formation  of  correct  habits  of 
thinking  and  working,  habits  of  observing,  of  classifying, 
of  investigating,  of  discriminating,  of  proving  instead  of 
guessing,  of  weighing  evidence,  of  patient  perseverance, 
and  of  doing  thoroughly  honest  work,  is  a  method  of  using 
that  power  eflSciently.  The  accumulation  of  facts  is  the 
least  important.  The  power  to  acquire  information  and 
the  knowledge  of  how  to  use  it  is  of  far  greater  value 
than  any  number  of  the  most  useful  facts.  The  value  of 
an  education  does  not  consist  in  the  number  of  facts  ac- 
quired,  but  in  the  ability  to  discover   facts   by  personal 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     509 

observation  and  investigation  and  in  the  power  to  use  these 
facts  in  deducing  new  conclusions  and  establishing  funda- 
mental principles.  There  is  no  comparison  between  the 
value  of  a  ton  of  horseshoe  nails  and  the  ability  to  make 
a  single  nail. 

The  engineering  student  usually  desires   to  reverse  the   utiiitaxi»n 
I  1  1  I  1  ...  r   .    r  aim  of  the 

above  order  and  assumes  that  the  acquisition  oi  iniorma-   «ngineerin« 

tion,  especially  that  directly  useful  in  his  proposed  pro-  ^q^^\. 
fession,  is  the  most  valuable  element  of  an  education;  and  and  training 
unfortunately  some  instructors  seem  to  make  the  same  mis- 
take. The  truth  is  that  methods  of  construction,  details 
of  practice,  mechanical  appliances,  prices  of  materials  and 
labor,  change  so  rapidly  that  it  is  useless  to  teach  many 
such  matters.  However  important  such  items  are  to  the 
practicing  engineer,  they  are  of  little  or  no  use  to  the 
student;  for  later,  when  he  does  have  need  of  them, 
methods,  machines,  and  prices  have  changed  so  much  that 
the  information  he  acquired  in  college  will  probably  be 
worse  than  useless.  Technical  details  are  learned  of  neces- 
sity in  practice,  and  more  easily  then  than  in  college; 
whereas  in  practice  fundamental  principles  are  learned 
with  difficulty,  if  at  all.  A  man  ignorant  of  principles  does 
not  usually  realize  his  own  ignorance  and  limitations,  or 
rather  he  is  unaware  of  the  existence  of  unknown  prin- 
ciples. The  engineering  college  should  teach  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  sound  engineering  practice  is  based,  but 
should  not  attempt  to  teach  the  details  of  practice  any 
further  than  is  necessary  to  give  zest  and  reality  to  the  in- 
struction and  to  give  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the 
uses  to  be  made  of  fundamental  principles. 

As  evidence  that  technical  information  is  not  essential 
for  success  in  an  engineering  profession,  attention  is  called 
to  the  fact  that  a  considerable  number  of  men  who  took 
a  course  in  one  of  the  major  divisions  of  engineering  have 
practiced  in  another  branch  with  reasonable  success.  The 
only  collegiate  training  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
American  engineers  of  the  last  generation  had  was  a  gen- 
eral literary  course  followed  by  a  law  course.     Further, 


510  College  Teaching 

a  considerable  number  have  successfully  practiced  engin- 
eering, after  only  a  general  college  education,  and  this  in  re- 
cent years  when  engineering  curricula  have  become  widely 
differentiated.  Examples  in  other  lines  of  business  could 
be  cited  to  show  that  a  knowledge  of  technical  details  is  not 
the  most  important  element  in  a  preparation  for  a  profes- 
sion or  for  business.  The  all-important  thing  is  that  the 
engineering  student  shall  acquire  the  power  to  observe 
closely,  to  reason  correctly,  to  state  clearly,  that  he  shall 
be  able  to  extract  information  from  books  certainly  and 
rapidly,  and  that  he  shall  cultivate  his  judgment,  initia- 
tive, and  self-reliance.  A  student  may  have  any  amount 
of  technical  information,  but  if  he  seriously  lacks  any  of 
the  qualities  just  enumerated,  he  cannot  attain  to  any  con- 
siderable professional  success.  However,  if  he  has  these 
qualities  to  a  fair  degree,  he  can  speedily  acquire  sufficient 
technical  details  to  enable  him  to  succeed  fairly  well. 

The  chief  aim  of  the  engineering  college  should  be  to 
develop  the  intellectual  power  that  will  enable  the  student 
not  only  to  acquire  quickly  the  details  of  practice,  but 
will  also  enable  him  ultimately  to  establish  precedents  and 
determine  the  practice  of  his  times.  Incidentally  the  en- 
gineering college  should  seek  to  expand  the  horizon  and 
widen  the  sympathy  of  its  students.  In  college  classes 
there  will  be  those  who  are  either  unable  or  unwilling  to 
attain  the  highest  educational  ideals,  and  who  will  become 
only  the  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  of  the  en- 
gineering profession;  but  a  setting  before  them  of  the  high- 
est ideals  and  even  an  ineffective  training  in  methods  of 
work  will  prepare  them  the  better  to  fill  mediocre  posi- 
tions. 

The  nearly  universal  engineering  college  course  requires 
four  years.  The  field  properly  belonging  to  even  a 
specialized  curriculum  is  so  wide  and  the  importance  of  a 
proper  preparation  of  the  engineers  of  the  future  is  so  great 
as  appropriately  to  require  more  than  four  years  of  time; 
but  the  consensus  of  opinion  is  that  for  various  reasons 
only  four  years  are  available  for  undergraduate  work  — 


TJie  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     511 

the  only  kind  here  under  consideration.  Hence  it  is  of 
vital  importance  that  the  highest  ideals  shall  be  set  before 
the  engineering  students  and  that  the  methods  of  instruc- 
tion employed  shall  be  the  best  attainable. 


IV.    METHODS   OF    TEACHING 

Instruction  in  technical  engineering  subjects  is  given  by 
lectures,  recitations  from  textbooks,  assigned  reading, 
laboratory  work,  surveying,  field-practice,  problems  in  de- 
sign, memoirs,  and  examinations.  Each  of  these  will  be 
briefly  considered. 

The  term  "  lecture  system "  will  be  used  to  designate  Lecture 
that  method  of  instruction  in  which  knowledge  is  presented  ^^^  ™ 
by  the  instructor  without  immediate  questioning  of,  or  dis- 
cussion by,  the  student.  In  the  early  history  of  engineer- 
ing education,  when  instruction  in  technical  engineering 
subjects  was  beginning  to  be  differentiated  from  other 
branches  of  education,  the  lecture  was  the  only  means  of 
acquainting  the  student  with  either  the  principles  or  details 
of  engineering  practice,  since  textbooks  were  then  few  and 
unsatisfactory.  But  at  present,  when  there  are  so  many 
fields  of  technical  knowledge  in  which  there  are  excellent 
books,  the  lecture  system  is  indefensible  as  a  means  either 
of  communicating  knowledge  or  of  developing  intellectual 
strength. 

It  is  a  waste  of  the  student's  time  to  present  orally  that 
which  can  be  found  in  print.  At  best  the  lecturer  can 
present  only  about  one  third  as  much  as  a  student  could 
read  in  the  same  time;  and,  besides,  the  student  can  under- 
stand what  he  reads  better  than  what  he  hears,  since  he 
can  go  more  slowly  over  that  which  he  does  not  under- 
stand. The  lecturer  moves  along  approximately  uni- 
formly, while  some  students  fail  to  understand  one  part, 
and  others  would  like  to  pause  over  some  other  portion. 
A  poor  textbook  is  usually  better  than  a  good  lecturer. 

It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  pedagogy  that  there 
can  be  no  development  without  the  activity  of  the  learner's 


512  College  Teaching 

mind;  and  hence  with  the  lecture  system  it  is  customary  to 
require  the  student  to  take  notes,  and  subsequently  submit 
himself  to  a  quiz  or  present  his  lecture  notes  carefully 
written  up.  If  the  student  is  required  to  take  notes,  either 
for  future  study  or  to  be  submitted,  his  whole  time  and 
attention  are  engrossed  in  writing;  and  at  the  close  of  the 
lecture,  if  it  has  covered  any  considerable  ground,  the 
student  has  only  a  vague  idea  of  what  has  been  said. 
Further,  the  notes  are  probably  so  incomplete  as  to  af- 
ford inadequate  material  for  future  study. 

If  the  subject  matter  is  really  new  and  not  found  in 
print,  the  lecture  should  be  reproduced  for  the  student's 
use.  It  is  more  economical  and  more  effective  for  the 
student  to  pay  his  share  of  the  cost  of  printing,  than  to 
spend  his  time  in  making  imperfect  notes  and  perhaps  ulti- 
mately writing  them  out  more  fully. 

The  lecture  system  is  less  suitable  for  giving  instruc- 
tion in  engineering  subjects  than  in  general  subjects,  such 
for  example  as  history,  sociology,  and  economics,  since 
technical  engineering  subjects  usually  include  principles 
and  more  or  less  numerical  data  that  must  be  stated  briefly 
and  clearly. 

If  a  student  has  had  an  opportunity  to  study  a  subject 
from  either  a  textbook  or  a  printed  copy  of  the  lecture 
notes,  then  comments  by  the  teacher  explaining  some  diffi- 
cult point,  or  describing  some  later  development,  or  show- 
ing some  other  application  or  consequence  of  the  prin- 
ciple, may  be  both  instructive  and  inspiring;  but  the  main 
work  of  teaching  engineering  subjects  should  be  from  care- 
fully prepared  textbooks.  However,  an  occasional  formal 
lecture  by  an  instructor  or  a  practicing  engineer  upon  some 
subject  already  studied  from  a  textbook  can  be  a  means 
of  valuable  instruction  and  real  inspiration,  provided  the 
lecture  is  well  prepared  and  properly  presented. 

In  the  preceding  discussion  the  term  "  lecture  "  has  been 
employed  as  meaning  a  formal  presentation  of  information; 
but  there  is  another  form  of  lecture,  a  demonstration 
lecture,  which  consists  of  an  explanation  and  discussion  by 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     513 

the  instructor  of  an  experiment  conducted  before  the  class. 
The  prime  purpose  of  the  experiment  and  the  demonstration 
lecture  is  to  explain  and  fix  in  mind  general  principles. 
This  form  of  lecture  is  an  excellent  method  of  giving  in- 
formation; and  if  the  student  is  questioned  as  to  the  facts 
disclosed  and  is  required  to  discuss  the  principles  estab- 
lished, it  is  an  effective  means  of  training  the  student  to 
observe,  to  analyze,  and  to  describe. 

This  system  of  instruction  consists  in  assigning  a  lesson  Kecit*"on 
upon  which  the  student  subsequently  recites.  In  subjects 
involving  mathematical  work,  the  recitation  may  consist  of 
the  presentation  of  the  solution  of  examples  or  problems; 
but  in  engineering  subjects  the  recitation  usually  consists 
either  of  answers  to  questions  or  of  the  discussion  of  a 
topic. 

The  question  may  be  either  a  "  fact "  question  or  a 
"  thought  "  question.  If  the  main  purpose  is  to  give  in- 
formation, the  "  fact "  question  is  used,  the  object  being 
to  determine  whether  the  student  has  acquired  a  particular 
item  of  information.  Not  infrequently,  even  in  college 
teaching,  the  question  can  be  answered  by  a  single  word 
or  a  short  sentence;  and  usually  such  a  question,  even  if  it 
does  not  itself  suggest  the  answer,  requires  a  minimum  of 
mental  effort  on  the  part  of  the  student.  This  method 
determines  only  whether  the  student  has  acquired  a  number 
of  unrelated  facts,  and  does  not  insure  that  he  has  any 
knowledge  of  their  relation  to  each  other  or  to  other  facts 
he  may  know,  nor  does  it  test  his  ability  to  use  these 
facts  in  deducing  conclusions  or  establishing  principles. 
Apparently  this  method  of  conducting  a  recitation,  or  quiz 
as  it  is  often  called,  is  far  too  common  in  teaching  engin- 
eering subjects.  It  is  the  result  chiefly  of  the  mistaken 
belief  that  the  purpose  of  technical  teaching  is  to  give  in- 
formation. 

The  "  thought  "  question  is  one  which  requires  the  student 
to  reflect  upon  the  facts  stated  in  the  book  and  to  draw 
his  own  conclusions.  This  method  is  intermediate  between 
the  "fact"  question  and  the  topical  discussion;  it  is  not 


514  College  Teaching 

so  suitable  to  college  students  as  to  younger  ones,  and  is 
not  so  easily  applied  in  engineering  subjects  as  in  more 
general  subjects  such  as  history,  economics,  or  social 
science.     It  will   not  be  considered   further. 

The  topical  recitation  consists  in  calling  upon  the 
student  to  state  what  he  knows  upon  a  given  topic.  This 
method  not  only  tests  the  student's  knowledge  of  facts,  but 
also  trains  him  in  arranging  his  facts  in  logical  order  and 
in  presenting  them  in  clear,  correct,  and  forceful  language. 

(1)  One  advantage  of  this  method  of  conducting  the  recita- 
tion is  that  it  stimulates  the  student  to  acquire  a  proper 
method  of  attacking  the  assigned  lesson.  Many  college 
students  know  little  or  nothing  concerning  the  art  of  study- 
ing. Apparently,  they  simply  read  the  lesson  over  with- 
out attempting  to  weigh  the  relative  importance  of  the  sev- 
eral statements  and  without  attempting  to  skeletonize  or 
summarize  the  text.  The  ability  to  acquire  quickly  and 
easily  the  essential  statements  of  a  printed  page  is  an  ac- 
complishment which  will  be  valuable  in  any  walk  of  life. 
In  other  words,  this  method  of  conducting  a  recitation 
forces  the   student  to  adopt   the  better   method   of  study. 

(2)  A  second  advantage  of  the  topical  recitation  is  that 
it  trains  the  student  in  expressing  his  ideas.  It  is  generally 
conceded  that  the  engineering-college  graduate  is  deficient 
in  his  ability  to  use  good  English,  which  is  evidence  that 
either  the  topical  recitation  is  not  usually  employed,  or 
good  English  is  not  insisted  upon,  or  perhaps  both.  (3) 
A  third  advantage  of  the  topical  recitation  is  that  it  trains 
the  student  in  judgment  and  discrimination  —  two  elements 
essential  in  the  practical  work  of  all  engineers. 

Apparently  many  college  teachers  think  it  more  credit- 
able to  deliver  lectures  than  to  conduct  recitations.  The 
formal  lecture  is  an  inefficient  means  of  either  conveying 
information  or  developing  intellectual  power,  and  hence  no 
one  should  take  pride  in  it.  The  textbook  and  quiz  method 
of  conducting  a  recitation  is  more  effective  than  the  lecture 
system,  but  is  by  no  means  an  ideal  method  of  either 
imparting    information    or    giving    intellectual    training. 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     515 

Neither  of  these  methods  is  worthy  of  a  conscientious 
teacher.  The  textbook  and  topical  recitation  affords  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  teach  the  student  to  analyze,  to 
observe,  to  discriminate,  to  train  him  in  the  use  of  clear 
and  correct  language,  and  in  the  presentation  of  his 
thoughts  in  logical  order  —  an  object  worthy  of  any  teacher 
and  an  opportunity  to  employ  the  highest  ability  of  any  per- 
son. In  the  conduct  of  such  a  recitation  in  engineering 
subjects,  there  is  abundant  opportunity  to  supplement  the 
textbook  by  calling  attention  to  new  discoveries  and  other 
applications,  and  to  introduce  interesting  historic  refer- 
ences. It  is  often  instructive  to  discuss  differences  in  con- 
struction which  depend  upon  differences  in  physical  con- 
ditions or  in  preferences  of  the  constructor,  and  such  dis- 
cussions afford  excellent  opportunities  to  train  the  student 
in  discovering  the  causes  of  the  differences  and  in  weighing 
evidence,  all  of  which  helps  to  develop  his  powers  of  ob- 
servation and  analysis  and  above  all  to  cultivate  his  judg- 
ment. If  a  teacher  is  truly  interested  in  his  work,  such  a 
recitation  gives  opportunity  for  an  interchange  of  thoughts 
between  the  student  and  teacher  that  may  be  made  of  great 
value  to  the  former  and  of  real  interest  to  the  latter.  The 
conduct  of  such  a  recitation  should  be  much  more  inspiring 
to  the  teacher  than  the  repetition  of  a  formal  lecture  which 
at  best  can  have  only  little  instructional  value. 

The  recitation  is  such  an  important  method  of  instruc-   suggestions 
tion  that  it  is  believed  a  few  suggestions  as  to  its  conduct   increasing 
may  be  permissible,  although  a  discussion  of  methods  of   '^  j^e^  " 
teaching  does  not  properly  belong  in  this  chapter.     (1)    recitation 
The  students  should   not  be  called   upon   in   any   regular 
order.     (2)    If  at  all  possible,  each  student  should  be  called 
upon  during  each  recitation.     (3)   The  question  or  topic 
should  be  stated,  and  then  after  a  brief  pause  a  particular 
student  should  be  called   upon   to  recite.     (4)   The  ques- 
tion  or   topic   should    not   be   repeated.      (5)   The   student 
should   not   be   helped.     (C)   The   question    should   be   so 
definite   as   to   admit   of  only   one   answer.     (7)   "Fact" 
questions  and  topical  discussions  should  be  interspersed. 


516 


College  Teaching 


Assigned 
reading 


Laboratory 
work 


(8)  Irrelevant  discussion  should  be  eliminated.  (9)  The 
thoughtful  attention  of  the  entire  class  and  an  opportunity 
for  all  to  participate  may  be  secured  by  interrupting  a 
topical  discussion  and  asking  another  to  continue  it.  (10) 
Clear,  correct  and  concise  answers  should  be  insisted  upon. 
(11)  In  topical  discussions  the  facts  should  be  stated  in  a 
logical  order.  (12)  Commend  any  exceptionally  good  an- 
swer. 

A  student  is  sometimes  required  to  read  an  assigned 
chapter  in  a  book  or  some  particular  article  in  a  technical 
journal  as.  a  supplement  to  a  lecture  or  a  textbook.  Some- 
times the  whole  class  has  the  same  assignment,  and  some- 
times different  students  have  different  assignments.  Each 
student  should  be  quizzed  on  his  reading,  or  should  be  re- 
quired to  give  a  summary  of  it.  The  method  of  instruc- 
tion by  assigned  reading  is  most  appropriate  when  the  lec- 
ture presentation  or  textbook  is  comparatively  brief.  This 
method  is  only  sparingly  permissible  with  an  adequate  text- 
book. 

The  chief  purpose  of  laboratory  work  is  to  illustrate  the 
principles  of  the  textbook  and  thereby  fix  them  in  the 
student's  mind.  The  manipulation  of  the  apparatus  and 
the  making  of  the  observations  is  valuable  training  for  the 
hand  and  the  eye,  and  the  computation  of  the  results  famil- 
iarizes the  student  with  the  limitations  of  mathematical 
processes.  The  interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  the  re- 
sults cultivates  the  student's  judgment  and  power  of  dis- 
crimination, and  the  writing  up  of  the  report  should  give 
valuable  experience  in  orderly  and  concise  statement. 
Sometimes  the  student  is  not  required  to  interpret  the  mean- 
ing or  to  discuss  the  accuracy  of  his  results,  and  some- 
times he  is  provided  with  a  tabular  form  in  which  he  in- 
serts his  observed  data  without  consideration  of  any  other 
reason  for  securing  the  particular  information.  He  should 
not  be  provided  with  a  sample  report  nor  with  a  tabular 
form,  but  should  be  required  to  plan  his  own  method  of 
presentation,  determine  for  himself  what  matter  shall  be 
in   tabular   form   and   what   in   narrative   form,   and    plan 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     517 

his  own  illustrations.  Of  course,  he  should  be  required 
to  keep  neat,  accurate,  and  reasonably  full  notes  of  the  lab- 
oratory work,  and  should  be  held  to  a  high  standard  of 
clearness,  conciseness,  and  correctness  in  his  final  report. 
Providing  the  student  with  tabular  forms  and  sample  re- 
ports may  lessen  the  teacher's  labors  and  improve  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  report,  but  such  practice  greatly  decreases 
the  educational  value  to  the  student. 

In  its  aims  surveying  field-practice  is  substantially  the  Surveying 
same  as  engineering  laboratory  work,  and  all  the  preceding  practice 
remarks  concerning  laboratory  work  apply  equally 
well  also  to  surveying  practice.  Ordinarily  the  latter  has 
a  higher  educational  value  than  the  former  in  that  the 
method  of  attack,  at  least  in  minor  details,  is  left  to  the 
student's  initiative,  and  also  in  that  the  difficulties  or  ob- 
stacles encountered  require  the  student  to  exercise  his  own 
resourcefulness.  The  cultivation  of  initiative  and  self-reli- 
ance is  of  the  highest  engineering  as  well  as  educational 
value.  Further,  in  the  better  institutions  the  instructor  in 
surveying  usually  knows  the  result  the  student  should  ob- 
tain, and  consequently  the  latter  has  a  greater  stimulus  to 
secure  accuracy  than  occurs  in  most  laboratory  work. 
Finally,  the  students,  at  least  the  civil  engineering  ones, 
always  feel  that  surveying  is  highly  practical,  and  hence  are 
unusually  enthusiastic  in  their  work. 

When  properly  taught  an  exercise  in  design  has  the  i>»si«n 
highest  educational  value;  and,  besides,  the  student  is  usu- 
ally easily  interested,  since  he  is  likely  to  regard  such  work 
as  highly  practical  and  therefore  to  give  it  his  best  efforts. 
Instruction  in  design  should  accomplish  two  purposes;  viz., 
(1)  familiarize  the  student  with  the  application  of  prin- 
ciples, and  (2)  train  him  in  initiative.  Different  subjects 
necessarily  have  these  elements  in  different  degrees,  and 
any  particular  subject  may  be  so  taught  as  specially  to 
emphasize  one  or  the  other  of  these  objects. 

Sometimes  a  problem  in  design  is  little  more  than  the 
following  of  an  outline  or  example  in  the  textbook  and  -  - 

substituting  values  in  formulas.     The  design  of  an  ordinary 


518  College  Teaching 

short-span  steel  truss  bridge,  as  ordinarily  taught,  is  an 
example  of  this  method  of  instruction.  Another  example 
is  the  design  of  a  residence  for  which  no  predetermined 
limiting  conditions  are  laid  down  and  which  does  not  differ 
materially  from  those  found  in  the  surrounding  community 
or  illustrated  in  the  textbook  or  the  architectural  magazine. 
Such  work  illustrates  and  enforces  theory,  gives  the  student 
some  knowledge  of  the  materials  and  processes  of  construc- 
tion, and  also  trains  him  in  drafting;  but  it  does  not  give 
him  much  intellectual  exercise  nor  develop  his  mental  fiber, 
although  it  may  prepare  him  to  take  a  place  as  a  routine 
worker  in  his  profession.  Such  instruction  emphasizes 
utilitarian  training  but  neglects  intellectual  development, 
mental  vigor,  and  breadth  of  view. 

The  exercise  in  design  which  has  the  highest  educational 
value  is  one  in  which  the  student  must  discover  for  himself 
the  conditions  to  be  fulfilled,  the  method  of  treatment  to  be 
employed,  the  materials  to  be  used,  and  the  details  to  be 
adopted.  An  example  of  this  form  of  problem  is  the  de- 
sign of  a  bridge  for  a  particular  river  crossing,  without 
any  limitations  as  to  materials  of  construction,  type  of  struc- 
ture, time  of  construction,  etc.,  except  such  as  are  inherent 
in  the  problem  and  which  the  student  must  determine  for 
himself.  A  better  example  is  the  architectural  design  of 
a  building  to  be  erected  in  a  given  locality  to  serve  some 
particular  purpose,  with  no  limitations  except  perhaps 
cost  or  architectural  style. 

Experience  of  several  teachers  with  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  students  during  each  of  several  years  conclusively 
shows  that  students  who  have  had  only  comparatively  little 
of  the  design  work  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph 
greatly  exceed  other  students  having  the  same  preparation 
except  this  form  of  design  work,  in  mental  vigor,  breadth  of 
view,  intellectual  power,  and  initiative.  This  difference  in 
capacity  is  certainly  observable  in  subsequent  college  work, 
and  is  apparently  quite  effective  after  graduation. 
Examin*-  Jhe  term  "  examination  "  will  be  used  as  including  the 

comparatively  brief  and   informal   quizzes  held   at   inter- 


tions 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     519 

vals  during  the  progress  of  the  work  and  also  the  longer  and 
more  formal  examinations  held  at  the  end  of  the  work. 
Usually  the  examination  is  regarded  as  a  test  to  determine 
the  accuracy  and  extent  of  the  student's  information,  which 
form  may  be  called  a  question-and-answer  examination  or 
quiz.  A  more  desirable  form  of  examination  is  one  which 
requires  the  student  to  survey  his  information  on  a  par- 
ticular topic,  and  to  summarize  the  same  or  to  state  his 
own  conclusions  concerning  either  the  relative  importance 
of  the  different  items  or  his  interpretation  of  the  meaning 
or  application  of  the  facts.  Such  an  examination  could 
be  called  a  "  topical  examination."  The  remarks  in  the 
earlier  part  of  this  chapter  concerning  the  relative  merits 
of  the  question-and-answer  and  the  topical  recitation  apply 
also  with  equal  force  to  these  two  forms  of  examinations. 
However,  the  topical  examination  can  be  made  of  greater 
educational  value  than  the  topical  recitation,  since  the  stu- 
dent is  likely  to  be  required  to  survey  a  wider  field  and 
organize  a  larger  mass  of  information,  and  also  since  the 
examination  is  usually  written  and  hence  affords  a  better 
opportunity  to  secure  accuracy  and  finish. 

It  is  much  easier  for  the  instructor  to  prepare  and  grade 
the  papers  for  the  question-and-answer  examination  than  for 
the  topical  examination,  and  perhaps  this  is  one  reason 
why  the  former  is  nearly  universally  employed.  Of  course, 
the  topical  examination  should  not  be  used  except  in  con- 
nection with  the  topical  recitation.  Some  executives  of 
public  school  systems  require  that  at  least  a  third,  and 
others  at  least  a  half,  of  all  formal  examinations  shall  be 
topical ;  and  as  the  examination  papers  and  the  grades  there- 
on are  subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  executive,  this  re- 
quirement indirectly  insures  that  the  teacher  shall  not  neg- 
lect the  topical  recitation.  Apparently  a  somewhat  similar 
requirement  would  be  beneficial  in  college  work. 

The  term  "  memoir  "  is  here  employed  to  designate  either  Memoir 
a  comparatively  brief  report  upon  some  topic  assigned  in 
connection    with    the    daily    recitation    or    the    graduating 
thesis. 


520  College  Teaching 

The  former  is  substantially  a  form  of  laboratory  work 
in  which  the  library  is  the  workroom  and  books  the  appa- 
ratus. This  method  of  instruction  has  several  merits.  It 
makes  the  student  familiar  with  books  and  periodicals  and 
with  the  method  of  extracting  information  from  them.  It 
stimulates  his  interest  in  a  wider  knowledge  than  that  ob- 
tained only  from  the  textbook  or  the  instructor's  lectures. 
It  is  valuable  as  an  exercise  in  English  composition,  par* 
ticularly  if  the  student  is  held  to  an  orderly  form  of  presen- 
tation and  to  good  English,  and  is  not  permitted  simply  to 
make  extracts.  The  value  to  be  obtained  from  such  literary 
report  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  time  devoted  to  it,  and 
also  upon  whether  the  instructor  tells  the  student  of  the 
articles  to  be  read  or  requires  him  to  find  the  sources  of 
information  for  himself. 
Thesis  The  thesis  may  be  a  description  of  some  original  design, 

or  a  critical  review  of  some  engineering  construction,  or  an 
account  of  an  experimental  investigation.  The  thesis 
differs  from  other  subjects  in  the  college  curriculum  in  that 
in  the  latter  the  student  is  expected  simply  to  follow  the 
directions  of  the  instructor,  to  study  specified  lessons  and 
recite  thereon,  to  solve  the  problems  assigned,  and  to  read 
the  articles  recommended;  while  the  preparation  of  the 
thesis  is  intended  to  develop  the  student's  ability  to  do  inde- 
pendent work.  There  is  comparatively  little  in  the  ordinary 
college  curriculum  to  stimulate  the  student's  power  of  in- 
itiative, but  in  his  thesis  work  he  is  required  to  take  the  lead 
in  devising  ways  and  means.  The  power  of  self-direction, 
the  ability  to  invent  methods  of  attack,  the  capacity  to  fore- 
see the  probable  results  of  experiments,  and  the  ability  to 
interpret  correctly  the  results  of  experiments  is  of  vital  im- 
portance in  the  future  of  any  engineering  student.  Within 
certain  limits  the  thesis  is  a  test  of  the  present  attainments 
of  the  student  and  also  a  prophecy  of  his  future  success. 
Therefore,  the  preparation  of  a  thesis  is  of  the  very  highest 
educational  possibility.  Unfortunately  many  students  are 
too  poorly  prepared,  or  too  lacking  in  ambition,  or  too  de- 
ficient in  self-reliance  and  initiative  to  make  it  feasible  for 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     521 

them  to  undertake  the  independent  work  required  in  a 
thesis.  Such  students  should  take  instead  work  under  di- 
rection. Further,  it  is  unfortunate  that,  for  administrative 
reasons,  the  requirement  of  a  thesis  for  graduation  is  made 
less  frequently  now  than  formerly.  The  increase  in  number 
of  students  ha«  made  it  practically  impossible  to  require  a 
thesis  of  all  graduates,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  pro- 
viding adequate  facilities  and  of  supervising  the  work. 
Again,  it  is  difficult  to  administer  a  requirement  that  only 
part  of  the  seniors  shall  prepare  a  thesis.  Consequently 
the  result  is  that  at  present  only  a  very  few  undergraduate 
engineering  students  prepare  theses. 

All  of  the  preceding  discussion  applies  only  to  under-  **r*^uate 
graduate  work.  Only  comparatively  few  engineering 
students  take  graduate  work.  A  few  institutions  have 
enough  such  students  to  justify,  for  administrative  reasons, 
the  organization  of  classes  in  graduate  work,  but  usually 
such  classes  are  conducted  upon  principles  quite  different 
from  those  employed  for  undergraduates.  No  textbooks  in 
the  ordinary  sense  are  used.  Often  the  student  is  assigned 
an  experimental  or  other  investigation,  and  is  expected 
to  work  almost  independently  of  the  teacher,  the  chief 
function  of  the  latter  being  to  criticize  the  methods  pro- 
posed and  to  review  the  results  obtained.  Such  work  under 
the  guidance  of  a  competent  teacher  is  a  most  valuable 
means  for  mental  development,  training,  and  inspiration. 

Ira  0.  Baker 

University  of  Illinois 


522  College  Teaching 


Bibliography 

Below  is  a  list  of  the  principal  articles  relating  to  engineering  edu- 
cation, arranged  approximately  in  chronological  order. 

1.  The  annual  Proceedings  of  the  Society  jot  the  Promotion  of 
Engineering  Education,  from  1913  to  date,  contain  many  valuable 
articles  on  various  phases  of  engineering  education.  Each  volume 
consists  of  200  to  300  8vo  pages.  The  society  has  no  permanent  ad- 
dress. All  business  is  conducted  by  the  secretary,  whose  address  at 
present  is  University  of  Pittsburgh,  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 

The  more  important  papers  of  the  above  Proceedings  which  are 
closely  related  to  the  subject  of  this  chapter  are  included  in  the  list 
below.  Many  of  the  articles  relate  to  the  teaching  of  a  particular 
branch  of  engineering,  and  hence  are  not  mentioned  in  the  following 
list. 

2.  "Methods  of  Teaching  Engineering:  By  Textbook,  by  Lectur- 
ing, by  Design,  by  Laboratory,  by  Memoir."  Professor  C.  F.  Allen, 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  An  excellent  presentation, 
and  discussion  by  others.  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  the  PromO' 
tion  of  Engineering  Education,  Vol.  VU,  pages  29-54. 

3.  "  Two  Kinds  of  Education  for  Engineers."  Dean  J.  B.  Johnson, 
University  of  Wisconsin.  An  address  to  the  students  of  the  College  of 
Engineering  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  1901.  Pamphlet  pub- 
lished by  the  author;  15  8vo  pages.  Reprinted  in  Addresses  of  Engi- 
neering Students,  edited  by  Waddell  and  Harrington,  pages  25-35. 

4.  "  Potency  of  Engineering  Schools  and  Their  Imperfections." 
Professor  D.  C.  Jackson,  University  of  Wisconsin.  An  address  pre- 
sented at  the  Quarto-Centennial  Celebration  of  the  University  of  Col- 
orado, 1902.    Proceedings  of  that  celebration,  pages  53-65. 

5.  "  Technical  and  Pedagogic  Value  of  Examinations."  Professor 
Henry  H.  Norris,  Cornell  University.  A  discussion  of  the  general  sub- 
ject, containing  examples  of  questions  in  a  topical  examination  in  an 
electrical  engineering  subject.  Discussed  at  length  by  several  others. 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Educa- 
tion.   Vol.  XV,  pages  605-618. 

6.  "  Limitations  of  Efficiency  in  Engineering  Education."  Professor 
George  F.  Swain,  Harvard  University.  An  address  at  the  opening  of 
the  General  Engineering  Building  of  Union  University,  1910.  A  dis- 
cussion of  various  limitations  and  defects  in  engineering  education. 
Pamphlet  published  by  Union  University;  28  small  8vo  pages.  Re- 
printed in  Addresses  of  Engineering  Students,  edited  by  Waddell  and 
Harrington,  pages  231-252. 

7.  "The  Good  Engineering  Teacher:  His  Personality  and  Training." 
Professor  William  T.  Magruder,  Ohio  State  University.    An  inspiring 


The  Teaching  of  Engineering  Subjects     523 

and  instructive  presidential  address.     Proceedings  of  the  Society  for 
the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education.     Vol.  XXI,  pages  27-38. 

8.  "  Hydraulic  Engineering  Education."  D.  W.  Mead,  University 
of  Wisconsin.  An  interesting  discussion  of  the  elements  an  engineer 
should  acquire  in  his  education.  The  article  is  instructive,  and  is 
broader  than  its  title;  but  it  contains  nothing  directly  on  methods 
of  teaching  engineering  subjects.  Bulletin  of  the  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  Engineering  Education,  Vol.  IV,  No.  5,  1914,  pages  185-198. 

9.  "  Some  Considerations  Regarding  Engineering  Education  in 
America."  Professor  G.  F.  Swain,  Harvard  University.  A  paper  pre- 
sented at  the  International  Engineering  Congress  in  1915  in  San 
Francisco,  California.  A  brief  presentation  of  the  early  history  of 
engineering  education  in  America,  and  an  inquiry  as  to  the  effective- 
ness of  present  methods.  Transactions  of  International  Engineering 
Congress,  Miscellany,  San  Francisco,  1915,  pages  324-330;  discussion, 
pages  340-348. 

10.  "  Technical  Education  for  the  Professions  of  Applied  Science." 
President  Ira  N.  Hollis,  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute.  A  discus- 
sion of  the  methods  and  scope  of  engineering  education,  and  of  the 
contents  of  a  few  representative  engineering  curricula.  Transactions 
International  Engineering  Congress,  Sem  Francisco,  1915,  Miscellany, 
pages  306-325. 

11.  "  What  is  Best  in  Engineering  Education."  Professor  H.  H. 
Higbie,  president  Tau  Beta  Pi  Association.  An  elaborate  inquiry 
among  graduate  members  of  that  association  as  to  the  value  and 
relative  importance  of  the  different  subjects  pursued  in  college,  of  the 
time  given  to  each,  and  of  the  methods  employed  in  presenting  them. 
Pamphlet  published  by  the  Association,  107  8vo  pages. 

12.  "  Some  Details  in  Engineering  Education."  Professor  Henry  S. 
Jacoby,  Cornell  University.  A  president's  address,  containing  many 
interesting  and  instructive  suggestions  concerning  various  details  of 
teaching  engineering  subjects  and  the  relations  between  students  and 
instructor.  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineer- 
ing Education,  Vol.  XXIII,  15  pages. 

13.  "  Report  of  Progress  in  the  Study  of  Engineering  Education." 
Professor  C.  R.  Mann.  Several  of  the  National  Engineering  Societies 
requested  the  Carnegie  Foundation  to  conduct  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  engineering  education,  and  the  Foundation  committed  the  in- 
vestigation to  Professor  C.  R.  Mann.  First  Report  of  Progress,  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education, 
Vol.  XXIII,  pages  70-85;  Second  Report,  Bulletin,  same.  November, 
1916,  pages  125-144;  Final  Report:  A  Study  of  Engineering  Educa- 
tion by  Charles  Riborg  Mann,  Bulletin  Number  11,  Carnegie  Foun- 
dation for  Advancement  of  Teaching,  1918. 

14.  "  Relation  of  Mathematical  Training  to  the  Engineering  Profes- 
sion."   H.  D.  Caylord,  Secretary  of  the  Association  of  Teachers  of 


524  College  Teaching 

Mathematics  in  New  England,  and  Professor  Paul  H.  Hanus,  Harvard 
University.  An  elaborate  inquiry  as  to  the  opinion  of  practicing  en- 
gineers concerning  the  importance  of  mathematics  in  the  work  of  the 
engineer.  Bulletin  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering 
Education,  October,  1916,  pages  54-72. 

15.  "  Does  Present-Day  Engineering  College  Education  Produce  Ac- 
curacy and  Thoroughness?  "  Professor  D.  W.  Mead,  University  of 
Wisconsin,  and  Professor  G.  F.  Swain,  Harvard  University.  An  ani- 
mated discussion  as  to  the  effectiveness  of  a  collegiate  engineering 
education.  Engineering  Record,  Vol.  73  (May  6,  1916),  pages  607- 
609. 

16.  "  Teach  Engineering  Students  Fundamental  Principles."  Pro- 
fessor D.  S.  Jacobus,  Stevens  Institute.  Address  of  the  retiring  presi- 
dent of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers.  A  clear  and 
forceful  discussion  of  general  methods  of  studying  and  teaching,  and 
of  the  choice  of  subjects  to  be  taught.  Engineering  Record,  Decem- 
ber 16,  1916,  pages  739-740. 

17.  A  considerable  number  of  thoughtful  articles  on  the  general 
subject  of  technical  education  appeared  in  the  columns  of  Mining 
and  Scientific  Press  (San  Francisco,  California)  during  the  year 
1916.  In  the  main  these  articles  discuss  general  engineering  educa- 
tion, and  give  a  little  attention  to  mining  engineering  education. 

18.  Since  the  preceding  was  written  there  has  appeared  a  little 
book,  the  reading  of  which  would  be  of  great  value  to  all  engineering 
students,  entitled  How  to  Study,  by  George  Fillmore  Swain,  LL.D., 
Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  in  Harvard  University  and  in  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  McGraw-Hill  Book  Company, 
New  York  City,  1917.    5  x  7%  inches,  paper,  63  pages,  25  cents. 


XXVI 


THE  TEACHING  OF  MECHANICAL  DRAWING 


DRAWING  is  a  mode  of  expression  and  is  therefore  a 
form  of  language.  As  applied  in  the  engineering  field 
drawing  is  mechanical  in  character  and  is  used  principally 
for  the  purpose  of  conveying  information  relative  to  the 
construction  of  machines  and  structures.  It  seems  logical 
that  the  methods  employed  and  the  standards  adopted  in  the 
teaching  of  engineering  drawing  should  be  based  on  an 
analysis  of  conditions  found  in  the  engineering  world.  In 
the  best  engineering  practice  the  technical  standards  of 
drawing  are  high,  so  high  in  fact  that  they  may  be  used  as 
an  ideal  toward  which  to  work  in  the  classroom.  Exam- 
ples of  good  draftsmanship  selected  from  practice  may  well 
serve  to  furnish  standards  for  classroom  work,  both  in  tech- 
nique and  methods  of  representation. 

Engineering  drawing  demands  intellectual  power  quite 
as  much  as  it  does  skill  of  hand.  The  draftsman  in  con- 
ceiving and  planning  his  design  visualizes  his  problem, 
makes  calculations  for  it,  and  graphically  represents  the  re- 
sults upon  the  drafting  board.  The  development  of  the 
details  of  his  design  makes  it  necessary  that  he  be  a  trained 
observer  of  forms.  Since  new  designs  frequently  involve 
modifications  of  old  forms,  in  his  efforts  to  recall  old  forms 
and  create  new  ones,  he  develops  visual  memory.  If  the 
requirements  of  a  successful  draftsman  or  designer  be  taken 
as  typical,  it  is  evident  that  the  young  engineer  must  de- 
velop, in  addition  to  a  technical  knowledge  of  the  subject, 
and  a  certain  degree  of  skill  of  hand,  a  habit  of  quick  and 
accurate  observation  and  the  ability  to  perceive  and  retain 
mental  images  of  forms. 

Modern  methods  of  instruction  recognize  both  the  motor 
and  mental  factors  involved  in  the  production  of  engineer- 
ing drawings.  It  is  the  aim  of  the  drawing  courses  in 
engineering   colleges  'to    familiarize   the   student   with   the 

52.1 


Mechanical 
drawing  a 
mode  of 
expression 


Mechanical 
drawing 
disciplinary 
as  well  as 
practical 
in  value 


526 


College  Teaching 


Organiza- 
tion and 
content  of 
courses  in 
mechanical 
drawing 


standards  of  technique  and  methods  of  representation  found 
in  the  best  commercial  practice;  likewise  to  develop  in  him 
the  powers  to  visualize  and  reason,  which  are  possessed  by 
the  commercial  draftsman  and  designers. 

The  drawing  courses  of  engineering  curricula  may  be 
divided  into  two  groups:  (1)  General  courses^  in  which  the 
principles  and  methods  of  representation  are  taught,  to- 
gether with  such  practice  in  drawing  as  will  develop  a  satis- 
factory technique.  (2)  Technical  courses,  the  aim  of  which 
is  to  assist  the  student  to  acquire  technical  knowledge  or 
training,  drawing  being  used  primarily  for  the  purpose  of 
developing  or  testing  a  student's  knowledge  of  the  subject 
matter. 

The  general  courses  usually  include  an  elementary  course 
and  a  course  in  descriptive  geometry.  These  courses  deal 
with  the  fundamental  principles  and  methods  which  have 
universal  application  in  the  advanced  and  technical  courses. 
While  the  courses  of  the  two  groups  may  overlap,  the  gen- 
eral courses  precede  the  courses  of  the  technical  group. 
There  is  no  general  agreement  as  to  the  order  in  which  the 
subjects  belonging  to  the  general  group  should  be  given. 
Each  of  the  following  orders  is  in  use: 

1.  A  courre  in  descriptive  geometry  followed  by  an  ele- 
mentary technical  course. 

2.  An  elementary  course  and  a  course  in  descriptive 
geometry  given  simultaneously. 

3.  An  elementary  course  followed  by  a  course  in  descrip- 
tive geometry. 

The  first  plan  is  followed  by  a  number  of  institutions 
which  conclude,  because  of  the  general  practice  of  offering 
courses  in  drawing  in  the  secondary  schools,  that  pupils 
entering  college  have  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamentals 
ordinarily  included  in  an  elementary  course.  In  other  in- 
stitutions it  is  held  that  the  principles  of  projection  can  be 
taught  to  students  of  college  age  in  a  course  of  descriptive 
geometry  without  preliminary  drill. 

Where  the  second  plan  is  used,  the  courses  are  so  corre- 
lated that  the  instruction  in  the'use  of  instruments  given  in 


The  Teaching  of  Mechanical  Drawing     527 

an  elementary  course  is  applied  in  solving  problems  in 
descriptive  geometry,  while  the  principles  of  projection 
taught  in  descriptive  geometry  are  applied  in  the  making 
of  working  drawings.  This  plan  is  followed  by  several 
of  the  larger  engineering  colleges. 

Under  the  third  plan  the  principles  of  projection  are 
taught  through  their  applications  in  the  form  of  working 
drawings.  In  this  way  the  principles  may  be  taught  in 
more  elementary  form  than  is  possible  in  any  adequate 
treatment  of  descriptive  geometry.  The  illustration  of  the 
principles  in  a  concrete  way  makes  it  possible  for  those 
who  find  visualizing  difficult,  to  develop  that  power  before 
abstract  principles  of  projection  are  taken  up  in  the  descrip- 
tive geometry.  The  skill  of  hand  developed  in  the  ele- 
mentary course  makes  it  possible  to  give  entire  attention 
to  a  study  of  the  principles  in  the  course  in  descriptive 
geometry.  While  excellent  results  are  being  obtained  under 
each  of  the  three  plans,  this  plan  is  the  one  most  generally 
adopted. 

The  order  of  courses  in  the  technical  drawing  groups  is 

determined  by  other  considerations  than  those  relating  to 

drawing,  such  as  prerequisites  in  mathematics,  strength  of 

materials,  etc. 

The  elementary   courses   have  undergone   a   number   of   Theeie- 
I  1      •  T        1  r     1        mentary 

important  changes  durmg  recent  years.     In  those  ot   the   courses 

present  day  more  attention  than  formerly  is  given  to  the 
making  of  complete  working  drawings.  In  the  earlier 
courses  the  elements  were  taught  in  the  form  of  exercises. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  courses  the  elements  were  combined 
in  working  drawings.  In  the  modern  courses,  however, 
there  is  a  very  marked  tendency  to  eliminate  the  exercise 
and  make  the  applications  of  elements  in  the  form  of  work- 
ing drawings  throughout  the  course. 

In  the  early  type  of  course  the  theory  of  projection 
was  taught  by  using  the  synthetic  method;  i.  e.,  by  placing 
the  emphasis  first  upon  the  projection  of  points,  then  lines, 
surfaces,  and  finally  geometrical  solids.  In  the  modern 
type  of   course,  however,  this  order   is   reversed   and   the 


528 


College  Teaching 


Fundamen- 
tals of  the 
elementary 
course 


analytic  method  is  used;  i.  e.,  solids  in  the  form  of  simple 
machine  or  structural  parts  are  first  represented,  then  the 
principles  of  projection  involved  in  the  representation  of 
their  surfaces,  edges,  and  finally  their  corners  are  studied. 
In  this  type  of  course  the  student  works  from  the  concrete 
to  the  abstract  rather  than  from  the  abstract  to  the  con- 
crete. 

Geometrical  constructions,  which  were  formerly  given 
as  exercises  and  which  served  as  a  means  of  giving  excellent 
practice  in  the  use  of  instruments,  are  now  incorporated  in 
working  drawings  and  emphasized  in  making  views  of  ob- 
jects. It  is  believed  that  in  the  applied  form  these  con- 
structions offer  the  same  opportunity  for  the  training  in 
accuracy  in  the  use  of  instruments  that  was  had  in  the  ab- 
stract exercises,  to  which  is  added  interest  naturally 
secured  by  making  applications  of  elements  in  working 
drawings. 

Conventions  are  also  taught  in  an  applied  form  and  are 
introduced  as  the  skill  for  executing  them  and  the  theory 
involved  in  their  construction  are  developed  in  the  progress 
of  the  course. 

The  type  of  freehand  lettering  most  generally  taught  is 
that  used  in  practice;  i.e.,  the  single-stroke  Gothic.  The 
best  commercial  drafting-room  practice  suggests  the  use  of 
the  vertical  capitals  for  titles  and  subtitles,  and  the  in- 
clined, lower  case  letters  and  numerals  for  notes  and  di- 
mensions. 

The  plan  generally  found  to  produce  satisfactory  results 
is  to  divide  the  letters  and  numerals  of  the  alphabet  into 
groups  containing  four  or  five  letters  and  numerals  on  the 
basis  of  form  and  to  concentrate  the  attention  of  the  student 
on  these,  one  group  at  a  time.  The  simple  forms  are  con- 
sidered first,  and  enough  practice  is  given  to  enable  the 
student  to  proportion  the  letters  and  numerals  and  make  the 
strokes  in  the  proper  order. 

It  is  more  natural  to  make  inclined  letters  than  vertical 
ones,  and  they  are  therefore  easier  to  execute.  If  both 
vertical  and  inclined  letters  are  taught,  the  instruction  on 


The  Teaching  of  Mechanical  Draicing     529 

the  vertical  should  be  given  first,  as  it  is  more  difficult  to 
make  vertical  strokes  after  becoming  accustomed  to  the 
inclined  strokes. 

Freehand  perspective  sketching  affords  the  most  natural 
method  of  representing  objects  in  outline.  It  is  of  par- 
ticular value  in  interpreting  orthographic  drawing.  The 
student  who  first  draws  a  perspective  sketch  of  an  object 
becomes  so  familiar  with  every  detail  of  it  that  he  cannot 
fail  to  have  a  clearer  mental  image  of  its  form  when  he 
attempts  to  draw  its  orthographic  views.  It  gives  a  valu- 
able training  in  coordinating  the  hand  and  eye  in  drawing 
freehand  lines  and  estimating  proportions.  It  also  serves 
as  an  intermediate  step  between  observing  an  object  and 
drawing  it  orthographically. 

Freehand  orthographic  sketching  is  now  quite  commonly 
incorporated  in  modern  courses  in  mechanical  drawing. 
Such  sketches  serve  as  a  preliminary  step  in  the  preparation 
of  the  mechanical  drawing.  They  correspond  to  the  sketches 
made  by  the  engineer  or  draftsman  for  drafting-room  or 
shop  use.  The  experience  of  many  instructors  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  early  introduction  of  freehand  perspec- 
tive and  orthographic  sketching  in  a  course  of  mechanical 
drawing  serves  as  a  means  of  developing  that  skill  in  free- 
hand execution  which  is  so  necessary  in  rendering'the  free- 
hand features  of  a  mechanical  drawing.  When  this  type 
of  skill  is  acquired  before  the  mechanical  work  is  started, 
the  mechanical  and  freehand  technique  may  be  simultan- 
eously developed. 

The  organization  of  an  elementary  course  composed 
largely  of  a  progressive  series  of  working  drawings  neces- 
sitates the  giving  of  considerable  attention  to  the  selection 
of  problems  involving  the  use  of  the  above-named  funda- 
mentals to  make  the  course  increasingly  difficult  for  the 
student.  The  drawing  of  views  involves  geometrical  con- 
structions and  conventions,  while  the  dimensions,  notes, 
and  title  involve  the  making  of  arrowheads,  letters,  and 
numerals.  In  such  an  elementary  course  the  student  re- 
ceives not  only  the  training  in  the  fundamentals,  but  also 


530  College  Teaching 

in  their  application  in  working  drawings  which  furnish  com- 
plete and  accurate  information  in  the  desired  form. 

Descriptive  jj^g   modern   methods  of   teaching  descriptive  geometry 

geometry  ^  r  o  / 

apply  the  theory  of  the  subject  to  applications  in  problems 

taken  from  engineering  practice.  The  introduction  of  prac- 
tical applications  adds  interest  to  the  subject  and  makes  the 
theory  more  easily  understood.  The  number  of  applica- 
tions should  be  as  great  as  possible  without  interfering  with 
the  development  of  the  theory.  Such  a  treatment  of  descrip- 
tive geometry,  following  a  thorough  course  in  elementary 
drawing,  should  make  it  possible  to  deal  with  abstract  prin- 
ciples of  projection  with  a  few  well-chosen  applications. 

Descriptive  geometry  aids  materially  in  developing  the" 
power  of  visualization  which  is  so  essential  to  the  training 
of  the  engineer.  The  graphical  applications  of  the  sub- 
ject in  the  solution  of  engineering  problems  may  be  used 
as  a  means  of  testing  the  student's  ability  to  visualize. 

There  is  now  very  little  discussion  relative  to  the  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  of  the  first  and  third  angle  pro- 
jection. Since  the  third  angle  is  generally  used  in  the  ele- 
mentary course  as  well  as  in  engineering  practice,  it  seems 
logical  that  it  should  be  emphasized  in  descriptive  geom- 
etry. Recent  textbooks  on  this  subject  confirm  the  ten- 
dency toward  the  use  of  the  third  angle. 

The  use  of  the  third  angle  presents  new  difficulties,  such 
as  that  of  locating  the  positions  of  magnitudes. in  space  in 
relation  to  their  projections.  Magnitudes  must  be  located 
behind  or  below  the  drawing  surface.  To  obviate  such  diffi- 
culties, some  instructors  demonstrate  principles  by  first  angle 
constructions.  Others  invert  surfaces  which  in  the  first  an- 
gle have  their  bases  in  the  horizontal  plane.  This  unde- 
sirable device  may  be  overcome  by  using  a  second  hori- 
zontal plane  in  the  third  angle.  Such  means  of  demonstra- 
tion may  be  avoided  altogether  by  considering  the  space 
relations  of  magnitude  to  one  another  instead  of  relating 
them  to  the  planes  of  projection.  This  method  centers  the 
attention  of  the  student  on  the  relation  of  magnitudes  rep- 
resented and  develops  visualization.     It  has  been  found  to 


The  Teaching  of  Mechanical  Drawing     531 


give  excellent  results  in  both  elementary  drawing  and 
descriptive  geometry. 

To  bring  the  teaching  of  descriptive  geometry  into  closer 
harmony  with  its  application  in  practice,  auxiliary  views  are 
frequently  used  instead  of  the  method  of  rotations. 

Briefly,  then,  it  appears  that  the  modem  course  in  descrip- 
tive geometry  should  contain  enough  applications  to  hold  the 
interest  of  the  student  and  to  test  his  power  of  visualization; 
that  the  third  angle  should  be  emphasized,  and  some  use 
should  be  made  of  auxiliary  views.  Above  all,  the  develop- 
ment of  visualizing  ability  should  be  considered  one  of  the 
chief  aims  of  the  course. 

In  teaching  drawing  and  descriptive  geometry,  lectures, 
demonstrations,  and  individual  instruction  each  have  a  place. 
Principles  can  best  be  presented  in  the  form  of  lectures. 
The  manual  part  of  the  work  can  be  presented  most  effec- 
tively by  means  of  demonstrations.  The  instructor  should 
illustrate  the  proper  use  of  instruments  and  materials  by 
actually  going  through  the  process  himself,  calling  atten- 
tion to  important  points  and  explaining  each  step  as  he 
proceeds.  Individual  instruction  given  at  the  student's 
desk  is  a  vital  factor  in  teaching  drawing,  as  it  offers  the  best 
means  of  clearing  up  erroneous  impressions  and  minister- 
ing to  the  needs  of  the  individual  student. 

Frequent  recitations  and  quizzes  serve  the  purpose  of 
keeping  the  instructor  informed  as  to  the  effectiveness 
of  his  instruction  and  as  a  means  by  which  the  student 
can  measure  his  own  progress  and  grasp  upon  the 
subject. 

Those  drawing  courses  which  have  for  their  primary  ob- 
ject the  teaching  of  technical  subject  matter  make  use  of  the 
drawings  as  an  instrument  to  record  facts  and  to  test  the 
student's  knowledge  of  principles  and  methods. 

In  the  technical  courses  it  should  be  possible  to  assume 
a  knowledge  of  the  material  given  in  the  general  courses. 
Some  effort  is  usually  necessary,  however,  to  maintain  the 
standards  already  established.  The  effort  thus  expended 
should  result  in  improving  technique  and  increased  speed. 


Methods 
of  instruc- 
tion in 
general 
courses 


Methods 
of  instruc- 
tion in 
technical 
drawing 
courses 


532 


College  Teaching 


The 

four-year 
drawing 
coarse 


Oonclnslon 


In  an  institution  where  drawing  courses  are  given  through- 
out the  four  years,  much  can  be  done  by  organization  and 
cooperation  to  make  the  time  spent  by  the  student  produc- 
tive of  the  best  results.  More  time  than  can  usually  be  se- 
cured for  the  general  courses  is  necessary  to  develop  skill 
that  will  be  comparable  with  that  found  in  practice.  The 
conditions  in  technical  drawing  courses  approximate  those 
in  practice.  They  apply  methods  taught  in  the  general 
courses.  The  limited  time,  frequently  less  than  300  clock 
hours,  devoted  to  the  general  courses  makes  it  desirable 
that  advantage  be  taken  in  the  technical  courses  for  fur- 
ther development  of  technique  and  skill.  In  a  number  of 
institutions  all  work  in  drawing  is  so  organized  as  to  form  a 
single  drawing  unit.  This  plan  calls  for  cooperation  on 
the  part  of  all  drawing  teachers  in  the  institution.  The 
results  obtained  by  this  method  seem  amply  to  justify  the 
effort  put  forth. 

The  final  test  in  any  course  or  group  of  drawing  courses 
may  be  measured  by  the  student's  ability  to  solve  problems 
n>et  with  in  engineering  practice.  Measured  upon  this 
basis,  the  newer  types  of  courses  discussed  herein,  those 
founded  upon  the  analytic  method  and  developed  largely 
as  a  progressive  series  of  working  drawings,  seem  to  be  meet- 
ing with  better  results  than  did  those  of  the  older  type 
in  which  the  synthetic  method  predominated  and  in  which 
abstract  problems  were  principally  used. 

While  the  college  man  is  not  fitting  himself  to  become  a 
draftsman,  it  is  quite  true  that  many  start  their  engineer- 
ing careers  in  the  drafting  office.  Those  who  think  well  and 
are  proficient  in  expressing  their  thoughts  through  the 
medium  of  drawing  are  most  apt  to  attract  attention  which 
places  them  in  line  for  higher  positions. 

Those  who  do  not  enter  the  engineering  field  through  the 
drafting  office  will  find  the  cultural  and  disciplinary  train- 
ing and  the  habits  of  precision  and  neatness  instilled  by  a 
good  course  in  drawing  of  great  value. 

J.  D.  Phillips  and  H.  D.  Orth 


University  of  Wisconsin 


XXVII 
THE  TEACHING  OF  JOURNALISM 

THE  education  of  the  journalist  or  newspaper  man  has 
been  brought  into  being  by  the  evolution  of  the  news- 
paper during  the  last  half  century.  Addison's  Spectator 
two  centuries  ago  counted  almost  wholly  on  the  original 
and  individual  expression  of  opinion.  It  had  nothing  be- 
yond a  few  advertisements.  The  news  sheet  of  the  day 
was  as  wholly  personal,  a  billboard  of  news  and  adver- 
tisements with  contributed  opinion  in  signed  articles.  A 
century  ago,  nearly  half  the  space  in  a  daily  went  to  such 
communications.  In  the  four-page  and  the  eight-page  news- 
paper of  sixty  to  eighty  years  ago,  taking  all  forms  of 
opinions, —  leaders  contributed,  political  correspondence 
from  capitals,  state  and  federal,  and  criticism, —  about  one 
fourth  of  the  space  went  to  utterance  editorial  in  character. 
The  news  filled  as  much  more,  running  to  a  larger  or 
smaller  share  as  advertisements  varied.  The  news  was  little 
edited.  The  telegraph  down  to  1880  was  taken,  not  as  it 
came,  but  more  nearly  so  than  today.  In  an  eight-page  New 
York  paper  between  1865  and  1875,  a  news  editor  with  one 
assistant  and  a  city  editor  with  one  assistant  easily  handled 
city,  telegraph,  and  other  copy.  None  of  it  had  the  inten- 
sive treatment  of  today.  It  was  not  until  1875  that  telegraph 
and  news  began  to  be  sharply  edited,  the  New  York  Sun 
and  the  Springfield  Republican  leading.  Between  1875  and 
1895,  the  daily  paper  doubled  in  size,  and  the  Sunday  paper 
quadrupled  and  quintupled.  The  relative  share  taken  by 
editorial  and  critical  matter  remained  about  the  same  in 
amount,  grew  more  varied  in  character,  but  dropped  from 
25  per  cent  of  the  total  space  in  a  four-page  newspaper  to 
3  to  5  per  cent  in  the  dailies  with  sixteen  to  twenty  pages, 
and  the  news  required  from  three  to  five  times  as  many  per- 
sons to  handle  it.  The  circulation  of  individual  papers 
in  our  large  cities  doubled  and  quadrupled,  and  the  weekly 

533 


534  College  Teaching 

expenditure  of  a  New  York  paper  rose  from  $10,000  a  week 
to  thrice  that.  These  rough,  general  statements,  varying 
with  different  newspapers  as  well  as  issue  by  issue  in  the 
same  newspaper,  represent  a  still  greater  change  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  subjects  covered. 

When  the  newspaper  was  issued  in  communities,  of  a 
simple  organization,  in  production,  transportation,  and  dis- 
tribution, the  newspaper  had  some  advertising,  some  news, 
and  personal  expression  of  opinion  —  political-partisan  for 
the  most  part,  critical  in  small  part.  This  opinion  was 
chiefly,  though  even  then  not  wholly,  expressed  by  a  single 
personality,  sometimes  dominant,  able,  unselfish,  and  in 
nature  a  social  prophet,  but  in  most  instances  weak,  time- 
serving, and  self-seeking,  and  partisan,  with  one  eye  on 
advertising,  official  preferred,  and  the  other  on  profits, 
public  office,  and  other  contingent  personal  results. 

In  the  complex  society  today,  classified,  stratified,  organ- 
ized, and  differentiated,  the  newspaper  is  a  complex  repre- 
sentation of  this  life.  The  railroad  is  a  far  more  important 
social  agency  than  the  stagecoach.  It  carries  more  people; 
it  offers  the  community  more;  but  the  individual  passenger 
counted  for  more  in  the  eye  of  the  traveling  public  in  the 
stagecoach  than  today  in  the  railroad  train;  but  nobody 
would  pretend  to  say  that  the  railroad  president  was  less 
important  than  the  head  of  a  stage  line,  Mr.  A.  J,  Cassatt, 
President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  and  builder  of  its 
terminal,  than  John  E.  Reeside,  the  head  of  the  express 
stage  line  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia,  who  beat  all 
previous  records  in  speed  and  stages. 

The  newspaper-complex,  representing  all  society,  still 
expressing  the  opinion  of  society,  not  merely  on  politics  but 
on  all  the  range  of  life,  creating,  developing,  and  modifying 
this  opinion,  publishes  news  which  has  been  standardized  by 
cooperative  news-gathering  associations,  local,  national,  and 
international.  In  the  daily  of  today  "  politics  "  is  but  a 
part  and  a  decreasing  part,  and  a  world  of  new  topics  has 
come  into  pages  which  require  technical  skill,  the  well- 
equipped  mind,  a  wide  information,  and  knowledge  of  the 


The  Teaching  of  Journalism  535 

condition  of  the  newspaper.  The  early  reporter  who  once 
gathered  the  city  news  and  turned  it  in  to  be  put  into  type 
and  made  up  by  the  foreman, —  often  also,  owner  and  pub- 
lisher,—  in  a  sheet  as  big  as  a  pocket-handkerchief,  is 
as  far  removed  from  the  men  who  share  in  the  big  modern 
daily,  as  far  as  is  the  modern  railroad  man  from  the  rough, 
tough  individual  proprietor  and  driver  of  the  stagecoach, 
though  the  driver  of  the  latter  was  often  a  most  original 
character,  and  a  well-known  figure  on  the  highway  as  rail- 
road men  are  not. 

As  this  change  in  the  American  newspaper  came  between   Evolution 
1860  and  1880,  the  public  demand  catne  for  the  vocational   fession'of 
training  of  the  journalist  and  experiments  in  obtaining  it   journalism 
began.     When  Charles  A.  Dana  bought  the  New  York  Sun 
in  1868,  he  made  up  his  staff,  managing  editor,  news  editor, 
city  editor,  Albany  correspondent  and  political  man,  from 
among  the  printers  he  had  known  on  the  New  York  Tribune. 
In   ten   years   these  were  succeeded   by  college  graduates, 
and  the  Sun  became  a  paper  whose  writing  staff,  as  a  whole, 
had  college  training,  nearly  all  men  from  the  colleges. 

College  men  were  in  American  journalism  from  its  early 
beginnings;  but,  speaking  in  a  broad  sense,  the  American 
newspaper  drew  most  of  its  staff  in  the  eighteenth  century 
and  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  from  among 
men  who  had  the  rough  but  effective  training  of  the  com- 
posing room,  with  the  common  school  as  a  beginning. 
When  the  high  school  developed  from  1860  on,  it  began  to 
furnish  a  large  number  of  journalists,  particularly  in  Phila- 
delphia, where  the  Central  High  School  manned  many 
papers.  By  1880,  college  men  began  to  appear  in  a  steadily 
growing  proportion,  so  far  as  the  general  writing  staff  was 
concerned.  If  one  counted  the  men  at  the  top,  they  were  in 
a  small  proportion.  In  journalism,  as  in  all  arts  of  expres- 
sion, a  special  and  supreme  gift  will  probably  always  make 
up  for  lack  of  special  training. 

Between  1890  and  1900,  the  American  newspaper  as  it  is 
today  was  fairly  launched,  and  Joseph  Pulitzer,  the  ablest 
man  in  dealing  with  the  journalism  of  and  for  the  many, 


536 


College  Teaching 


Jonmalism 
today  re- 
quires gen- 
eral and 
technical 
training 


was  the  first  conspicuous  figure  in  the  newspaper  world  to  see 
that  the  time  had  come  for  the  professiohal  training  of  the 
journalist,  the  term  he  preferred  to  "  newspaper  men." 
Neither  the  calling  nor  the  public  were  ready  when  he  made 
his  first  proposal,  and  with  singular  noljility  of  soul  and  sad 
disappointment  of  heart  he  determined  to  pledge  his  great 
gift  of  S2,000,000,  paying  $1,000,000  of  it  to  Columbia 
University  before  his  death  and  providing  that  the  School 
of  Journalism,  to  which  he  furnished  building  and  endow- 
ment, should  be  operated  within  a  year  after  his  death. 
This  came  October  29,  1911,  and  the  school  opened  the  fol- 
lowing year. 

The  discussion  of  the  education  of  the  journalist  has  been 
in  progress  for  twoscore  years.  In  1870  Whitelaw  Reid 
published  his  address  on  the  "  School  of  Journalism  "  and 
urged  systematic  training,  for  which  in  the  bitter  personal 
newspaper  of  the  day  he  was  ridiculed  as  "  the  young  pro- 
fessor of  journalism."  In  1885,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Fitch,  but 
just  gone  after  long  newspaper  service,  delivered  a  course  of 
lectures  on  the  training  of  the  journalist,  at  Cornell  Uni- 
versity. Two  years  later  Mr.  Brainerd  Smith,  before  and 
after  of  the  New  York  Sun,  then  professor  of  elocution  in 
the  same  university,  began  training  in  the  work  of  the  news- 
paper in  his  class  in  composition,  sending  out  his  class  on 
assignments  and  outlining  possible  occurrences  which  the 
class  wrote  out.  This  experiment  was  abruptly  closed  by 
Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage,  Chairman  of  the  Cornell  Board  of 
Trustees,  because  the  newspapers  of  Minneapolis  inclined 
to  treat  the  university  as  important,  chiefly  because  it  taught 
"  journalism."  Mr.  Fred  Newton  Scott,  professor  of  rhet- 
oric in  the  University  of  Michigan  in  1893,  began,  with  less 
newspaper  notice,  training  in  newspaper  English,  continuing 
to  the  present  time  his  happy  success  in  teaching  style  to  his 
students. 

In  1908,  Mr.  Walter  Williams,  for  twenty-four  years 
editor,  first  of  the  Boon vi lie  Advertiser,  and  then  of  the 
Columbia,  Missouri,  Herald,  became  dean  of  the  first  school 
of  journalism  opened  in  the  same  year  by  the  University  of 


The  Teaching  of  Journalism  537 

Missouri.  This  example  was  followed  under  the  direction 
of  Willard  G.  Bleyer  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  By 
1911,  nearly  a  score  of  colleges,  universities,  and  technical 
schools  were  giving  courses  in  journalism. 

By  1916,  the  directory  of  teachers  of  journalism  compiled 
by  Mr.  Carl  F.  Getz,  of  the  University  of  Ohio,  showed  107 
universities  and  colleges  which  gave  courses  in  journalism, 
28  state  universities,  17  stale  colleges  and  schools  of  journal- 
ism, and  62  colleges,  endowed,  denominational,  or  muni- 
cipal. 

The  teachers  who  offered  courses  in  journalism  numbered 
127.  Of  these,  25  were  in  trade,  industrial,  and  agricul- 
tural schools,  their  courses  dealing  with  aspects  of  writing 
demanded  in  the  fields  to  which  the  institution  devoted 
its  work.  The  number  of  students  in  all  these  institutions 
numbered  about  5000.  This  gave  about  1200  students  a 
year,  who  had  completed  their  studies  and  gone  out  with 
a  degree  recording  college  or  technical  work  in  which  train- 
ing in  journalism  played  its  part.  With  about  40,000  men 
and  women  who  were  "  journalists  "  in  the  country  at  this 
time,  there  are  probably  —  the  estimate  is  little  better  than 
a  guess  —  about  3000  posts  becoming  vacant  each  year,  in 
all  branches  of  periodical  work,  monthly,  weekly,  and 
daily. 

The  various  training  in  journalism  now  offered  stands 
ready  to  furnish  a  little  less  than  half  this  demand.  I  judge 
it  actually  supplies  yearly  somewhat  less  than  a  fourth 
of  the  new  men  and  women  entering  the  calling,  say  about 
750  in  all.  As  in  all  professional  schools,  a  number  never 
enter  the  practice  of  the  calling  for  which  they  are  pre- 
sumably prepared  and  still  larger  numbers  leave  it  after  a 
short  trial.  In  addition,  training  for  the  work  of  the 
journalist  opens  the  door  to  much  publicity  work,  to  some 
teaching,  and  to  a  wide  range  of  business  posts  where  writ- 
ing is  needed.  No  account  also  has  been  made  here  of  the 
wide  range  of  miscellaneous  courses  in  advertising  provided 
by  universities,  colleges  and  schools  of  journalism  by  ad- 
vertising clubs,  by  private  schools,  and  by  teachers,  local. 


538 


College  Teaching 


Develop- 
ment of 
courses  and 
schools  of 
jonrnallsm 


lecturing  and  peripatetic.  It  will  take  at  least  ten  years 
more  before  those  who  have  systematic  teaching  in  journal- 
ism will  be  numerous  enough  to  color  the  life  of  the  office 
of  the  magazine  or  newspaper,  and  a  generation  before  they 
are  in  the  majority. 

But  numbers  are  not  the  only  gauge  of  the  influence  of 
professional  study  on  the  calling  itself.  The  mere  presence, 
the  work,  the  activities,  and  the  mfluence  of  professional 
schools  raise  the  standards  of  a  calling.  Those  in  its  work 
begin  to  see  their  daily  task  from  the  standpoint  which 
training  implies.  Since  the  overwhelming  majority  of  news- 
paper men  believe  in  their  calling,  love  it,  rejoice  in  it, 
regret  its  defects,  and  honor  its  achievements,  they  begin 
consciously  to  try  to  show  how  good  a  newspaper  can  be 
made  with  nothing  but  the  tuition  of  the  office.  Inaccuracy, 
carelessness,  bad  taste,  and  dubious  ethics  present  them- 
selves at  a  difl"erent  angle  when  judged  in  the  light  of  a  call- 
ing for  which  colleges  and  universities  furnish  training. 
A  corporate  spirit  and  a  corporate  standard  are  felt  more 
strongly,  and  men  who  have  learned  all  they  know  in  a 
newspaper  office  have  a  just,  noble,  and  often  successful  de- 
termination to  advance  these  standards  and  endeavor  to 
equal  in  advance  anything  the  school  can  accomplish.  This 
affects  both  those  who  have  had  college  training  and  those 
who  come  to  their  work  as  newspaper  men  with  only  the 
education  of  the  public  schools,  high  or  elementary.  More 
than  1000  letters  have  been  received  by  the  School  of 
Journalism  in  Columbia  University,  since  it  was  opened, 
asking  advice  as  to  the  reading  and  study  which  could  aid  a 
man  or  woman  unable  to  leave  the  newspaper  office  to  study 
to  improve  their  work.  College  graduates,  in  particular 
on  newspapers,  begin  systematic  study  on  their  own  account, 
aware  of  an  approaching  competition.  Definite  standards 
in  newspaper  writing  and  in  diction  begin  to  be  recognized 
and  practiced  in  the  office,  and  slips  in  either  meet  a  more 
severe  criticism. 

Newspaper  associations  of  all  orders  play  their  part  in 
this    spontaneous    training.     Advertising    clubs    and    their 


The  Teaching  of  Journalism 


539 


great  annual  gatherings  have  censored  the  periodic  pub- 
licity of  the  advertising  column  as  no  other  agency  whatever 
could  possibly  have  done.  How  far  this  educating  influ- 
ence has  transformed  this  share  of  the  American  periodical 
in  all  its  fields  only  those  can  realize  who  have  studied  past 
advertisements.  Every  state  has  its  editorial  association. 
These  draw  together  more  men  from  the  weeklies  and  the 
dailies  in  cities  under  50,000  of  population  than  from  cities 
of  more  than  500,000.  These  associations  thirty  years  ago 
were  little  more  than  social.  They  have  come  to  be  edu- 
cational agencies  of  the  first  importance.  They  create 
and  assert  new  norms  of  conduct  and  composition.  The 
papers  read  are  normally  didactic.  All  men  try  to  be 
what  they  assert  they  are.  From  the  American  Newspaper 
Publishers'  Association,  bringing  together  nearly  1000  of 
our  leading  newspapers  to  meetings  of  the  weeklies  of  a 
county,  a  region  in  a  state,  a  whole  state,  sections  like  New 
England  or  the  Southern  Slates  of  particular  classes  of  peri- 
odicals, these  various  organizations  are  rapidly  instituting  a 
machinery,  and  breathing  a  spirit  whose  work  is  a  valid 
factor  in  the  education  of  the  newspaper  man.  Not  the 
least  influence  which  the  schools  of  journalism  exert  on  the 
active  work  of  the  calling  is  through  these  associations, 
particularly  in  the  states  west  of  the  Mississippi  where,  at  the 
present  stage  of  journalism  in  this  region,  state  universities 
can  through  schools  of  journalism  bring  newspapers  to- 
gether at  a  "  newspaper  week." 

The  rapid  growth  in  students  registered  in  "  journalism  " 
courses  did  not  gauge  the  demand  for  professional  teaching 
in  the  craft  of  the  newspaper  or  the  magazine.  A  large 
share  of  the  "  journalism  "  taught  consisted  simply  in  teach- 
ing newspaper  English.  The  college  course  has  been  no- 
where so  vehemently  and  vigorously  attacked  as  in  the  train- 
ing it  gave  in  writing  English.  Few  were  satisfied  with  it, 
least  of  all  those  who  taught  it.  At  least  one  college  pro- 
fessor, whose  method  and  textbooks  were  launched  thirty 
years  ago,  has  recanted  all  his  early  work  in  teaching  com- 
position and  pronounced   it  valueless  or  worse.     The  col- 


Jounudlsm 
raised  to 
dignity  of  a 
profession 
by  schools 
of  Journal- 
ism 


540 


College  Teaching 


Jonrnalistic 
writing 
demands  a 
distinctive 
style  and 
calls  for 
immediate 
response 


lege  graduate,  after  courses  in  English  composition  (at  least 
one  in  the  freshman  year  and  often  two  or  three  more),  in 
many  instances  found  himself  unable  to  write  a  business 
letter,  describe  a  plan  projected  in  business  affairs,  com- 
pose advertisements,  or  narrate  a  current  event.  This  was 
not  invariably  the  case,  but  it  occurred  often  enough  to  be 
noted.  .  Books,  pamphlets,  and  papers  multiplied  on  this 
lack  of  training  for  practical  writing  in  college  composi- 
tion courses.  The  world  of  education  discovered,  what  the 
newspapers  had  found  by  experience,  that  the  style  of  ex- 
pression successful  in  literature  did  not  bring  results  in 
man's  daily  task  of  reaching  his  fellow  man  on  the  homely 
and  direct  issues  of  daily  life.  In  literature,  genius  is 
seeking  to  express  itself.  In  the  newspaper  and  in  busi- 
ness, the  writer  is  trying  —  and  only  trying  —  to  express 
and  interpret  his  subject  so  as  to  reach  the  other  and  con- 
temporary man.  If  he  does  this,  he  wins.  If  not,  he  fails. 
Genius  can,  should  be,  careless  of  the  immediate  audience, 
and  wait  for  the  final  and  ultimate  response.  No  news- 
paper article  and  no  advertisement  can.  For  them,  style  is 
only  a  means.  In  letters,  form  is  final.  The  verdict  of 
posterity  and  not  of  the  yearly  subscriber  or  daily  purchaser 
is  decisive. 

In  the  high  school  and  college,  from  1910  on,  there  came 
courses  in  English  which  turned  to  the  newspaper  for 
methods  and  means  of  expression,  and  were  called 
"  courses  in  journalism."  They  were  really  courses  in  the 
English  of  the  newspaper,  besprinkled  with  lectures  on  the 
diction  of  the  newspaper  and  the  use  of  words  —  futile 
efforts,  through  lists  of  words  that  must  not  be  used,  to 
give  a  sound  rule  of  the  selection  of  language  by  the 
writer,  and,  above  all,  attempts  to  secure  simple,  direct, 
incisive  narrative  and  discussion.  These  are  all  useful  in 
their  place  and  work.  They  prepare  a  man  for  some  of 
the  first  steps  of  the  newspaper  office,  particularly  in  the 
swift,  mechanical  routine  and  technique  of  "  copy,"  indis- 
pensable where  what  is  copy  now  is  on  the  street  for  sale 
v/ithin  an  hour. 


Tlic  Teaching  of  Journalism  541 

Where  an  instructor  has  himself  the  gift  of  style  and  the 
capacity  to  impart  it,  where  he  is  himself  a  man  who  sells 
his  stuff  and  knows  what  stuff"  wiH  sell,  where  he  has  taste 
and  inspiring,  eff^ective  teaching  power,  a  course  in  news- 
paper English  may  carry  a  man  far  in  acquiring  command 
of  his  powers  of  expression  to  their  profitable  use.  These 
"  courses  in  journalism  "  sometimes  run  for  only  a  single 
semester.  Many  run  for  the  normal  span  of  three  hours 
a  week  through  a  year.  Sometimes  there  are  two  in  suc- 
cession, the  second  assuming  the  task  of  teaching  work 
which  a  newspaper  beginner  usually  reaches  in  from  three 
to  five  years:  the  special  article,  the  supplement,  study  of 
a  subject,  the  "  feature  "  story,  criticism,  and  the  editorial. 
When  these  courses  are  based  on  assignments  which  lead  a 
man  to  go  out  and  get  the  facts  on  which  he  writes,  they 
furnish  a  certain  share  of  training  in  the  art  of  reporting. 
Where  this  is  done  in  a  college  town  and  a  college  com- 
munity, however,  the  work  is  a  far  remove  from  that  where 
the  reporter  must  dive  and  wrestle  in  the  seething  tide  of  a 
great  city,  to  return  with  news  wrested  from  its  native  bed. 

Newspaper  English  has  its  great  and  widest  value  to  the  courses  in 
man  who  wishes  to  learn  how  he  can  aff'ect  the  other  man.  paper 
A  course  in  it  is  certain,  if  the  instruction  is  eff^ective,  ^ngUsh " 
to  leave  a  student  better  able  to  express  himself  in  the  nor- 
mal needs  of  life.  This  work  is  taken  by  many  students 
as  part  of  the  eff"ective  training  of  college  life,  with  no 
expectation  of  entering  active  newspaper  work.  The  de- 
mand for  publicity  work  in  all  business  fields,  and  its 
value  to  the  social  worker,  the  teacher,  and  the  clergy- 
man, lead  others  to  this  specialized  training.  In  at  least 
one  of  our  state  universities,  half  those  who  take  the 
courses  in  journalism  do  not  look  to  the  newspaper  in  the 
future.  The  curriculum  is  often  so  arranged  that "  in  a 
four-year  college  course  it  will  be  practicable  to  combine 
these  courses  in  newspaper  English  with  the  parts  of  work 
offered,  required  for,  or  preparatory  to  the  three  learned 
professions,  social  service,  business,  and  the  applied 
sciences.     Such  an  arrangement  of  studies  frankly  recog- 


542 


College  Teaching 


Functions 
of  a  school 
of  journal- 
ism:  To 
select  as 
well  as  to 
train 


nizes  the  value  in  general  education  and  after  life  of 
training  in  the  direct  expression  the  newspaper  uses.  In 
no  long  time  every  college  will  have  at  least  one  such 
course  in  its  English  department. 

But  this  course  in  direct  writing  stands  alone,  without 
any  systematic  training  in  journalism;  it  should  not  be 
called  a  course  in  journalism  any  more  than  a  course  in 
political  science  dealing  with  law,  or  a  course  in  physiol- 
ogy or  hygiene,  can  be  called  courses  in  law  or  medicine, 
because  they  cover  material  used  in  schools  of  law  or 
schools  of  medicine.  It  is  an  advantage  for  any  educated 
man  to  learn  to  write  clearly,  simply,  to  the  point;  to  put 
the  purpose,  object,  and  force  of  an  article  at  the  beginning, 
and  to  be  as  much  like  Daniel  Defoe  and  Franklin,  and  as 
little  like  Walter  Pater  or  Samuel  Johnson,  as  possible;  it  is 
well  for  him  to  have  a  general  view  of  the  newspaper  and 
its  needs;  it  is  a  mistake  to  leave  him  with  the  impression 
that  he  has  the  training  journalism  demands.  He  is  no 
better  off  at  this  point  than  any  college  graduate  who  has 
picked  up  for  himself,  by  nature  or  through  practice  and 
imitation,  the  direct  newspaper  method. 

President  Eliot,  when  the  organization  of  a  school  of 
journalism  came  before  him,  cast  his  august  and  mislead- 
ing influence  for  the  view  that  a  college  education  was 
enough  training  for  newspaper  work.  Many  still  believe 
this.  In  more  than  one  city-room  today  college  men  are 
challenging  the  right  of  the  graduates  of  a  school  of 
journalism  to  look  on  themselves  as  better  fitted  for  the 
newspaper  office  than  those  who  are  graduates  of  a  good 
college.  If  the  training  of  the  school  has  done  no  more 
than  graft  some  copy-writing  and  some  copy-editing  on  the 
usual  curriculum,  they  are  right.  If  the  coming  journal- 
ist has  got  his  training  in  classes,  half  of  whose  number 
had  no  professional  interest  in  the  course  offered,  the  claim 
for  the  college  course  may  be  found  to  be  well  based. 
Men  teach  each  other  in  the  classroom.  A  common  pro- 
fessional purpose  creates  common  professional  ideals  and 
common  professional  aims  as  no  training  can,  given  with- 


The  Teaching  of  Journalism  543 

out  this,  though  it  deal  wilh  identically  the  same  subjects. 

The  training  of  the  journalist  will  at  this  point  go 
through  the  same  course  as  the  training  of  other  callings. 
The  palpable  thing  about  law,  the  objective  fact  it  presents 
first  to  the  layman,  is  procedure  and  form.  This  began 
legal  education.  A  man  entered  a  law  office.  He  ran  er- 
rands and  served  papers  which  taught  him  how  suits  were 
opened.  A  bright  New  York  office  boy  in  a  law  firm  will 
know  how  many  days  can  pass  before  some  steps  must  be 
taken  or  be  too  late,  better  than  the  graduate  of  a  law 
school.  The  law  students  in  an  office  once  endlessly  copied 
forms  and  learned  that  phase  of  law.  For  generations 
men  "  eat  their  dinners  "  at  the  Inns  of  Court  and  learned 
no  more.  The  law  itself  they  learned  through  practice, 
at  the  expense  of  their  clients.  Anatomy  was  the  obvious 
thing  about  medicine  when  Vesalius,  of  the  strong  head  and 
weak  heart,  cleaned  away  the  superstitions  of  part  of  the 
medical  art  and  discovered  a  new  world  at  twenty-eight. 
The  medical  training  of  even  seventy  years  ago,  twenty 
years  after  cellular  pathology  had  dawned,  held  wearisome 
hours  of  dissection  now  known  to  be  a  waste.  It  is  the 
functions  of  the  body  and  its  organs  which  we  now  know 
to  be  the  more  important,  and  not  the  bones,  muscles, 
nerves,  and  organs  considered  as  mere  mechanism. 

The  classroom  is  the  patent  thing  about  instruction. 
The  normal  schools  lavished  time  on  the  tricks  of  teaching 
until  flocks  of  instructors  in  the  high  schools  and  colleges 
could  not  inaccurately  be  divided  into  those  who  could 
teach  and  knew  nothing  and  those  who  knew  something  and 
could  not  teach.  Our  colleges  early  thought  they  could 
weave  in  Hebrew  and  theology,  and  send  out  clergymen, 
and  later  tried  to  give  the  doctor  a  foundation  on  which 
eighteen  subsequent  months  could  graft  all  he  needed  of 
medicine. 

Reporting  is  the  obvious  aspect  of  journalism  which  the 
ignorant  layman  sees.  Many  hold  the  erroneous  view  that 
the  end  of  a  school  of  journalism  is  to  train  reporters.  Re- 
porting is  not  journalism.     It  is  the  open  door  to  the  news- 


,54-4  College  Teaehiug 

paper  office,  partly  because  there  are  very  few  reporters 
of  many  years'  service.  Some  of  them  are,  but  able  men 
before  long  usually  work  out  of  a  city-room,  or  gain 
charge  of  some  field  of  city  news,  doing  thus  what  is  in 
fact  reporting,  but  combined  with  editorial,  critical,  and 
correspondent  work.  Such  is  the  Wall  Street  man,  the  local 
politics  man,  the  City  Hall  man,  or  the  Police  Headquarters 
man,  who  gathers  facts  and  counts  acquaintance  as  one  of 
his  professional  assets.  But  these  men  are  doing,  in  their 
work,  far  more  than  reporting  as  it  presents  itself  to  those 
who  see  in  the  task  only  an  assignment.  Such  men  know 
the  actual  working  of  the  financial  mechanism,  not  as 
economists  see  it,  but  as  Bagehot  knew  it.  They  under- 
stand the  actual  working  of  municipal  machinery  besides 
having  a  minute  knowledge  of  character,  decision,  practice, 
and  precedent  in  administration.  In  our  real  politics,  big 
and  little,  they  and  the  Washington  and  Albany  corre- 
spondents are  the  only  men  who  know  both  sides,  are 
trusted  with  the  secrets  of  both  parties,  and  read  closed 
pages  of  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  Republic.  As 
for  the  Police  Headquarters  man,  he  too  alone  knows  both 
police  and  crime,  and  no  investigation  surprises  him  by  its 
revelations.  If  a  man,  for  a  season,  has  had  the  work  of 
one  of  these  posts,  he  comes  to  feel  that  he  writes  for  an 
ignorant  world,  and  if  he  have  the  precious  gift  of  youth, 
looks  on  himself  as  favored  of  mortals  early,  seeing  the 
events  of  which  others  hear,  daily  close  to  the  center  of 
affairs,  knowing  men  as  they  are  and  storing  confidence 
against  the  day  of  revelation. 

Men  like  these  are  the  very  heart's  core  of  a  newspaper. 
Their  posts  train  them.  So  do  the  key  posts  of  a  news- 
paper, its  guiding  and  directing  editors  and  those  who  do 
the  thinking  for  thinking  men  by  the  hundred  thousand  in 
editorial,  criticism,  and  article.  It  is  for  this  order  of  work 
on  a  newspaper  that  a  school  of  journalism  trains.  It  is 
to  these  posts  that,  if  its  men  are  properly  trained,  its 
graduates  rapidly  ascend,  after  a  brief  apprenticeship 
in   the  city-room  and  a  round   in  the  routine  work  of  a 


The  Teaching  of  Journalism  545 

paper.  Dull  men,  however  educated,  will  never  pass  these 
grades,  and  not  passing  they  will  drop  out.  A  school 
should  sift  such  out;  but  so  far,  in  all  our  professional 
training,  it  is  only  the  best  medical  schools  which  are  in- 
flexible in  dealing  with  mediocrity.  Most  teachers  know 
better,  but  let  the  shifty  and  dull  pass  by.  The  newspaper 
itself  has  to  be  inexorable,  and  no  well-organized  office 
helps  twice  the  man  who  is  dull  once;  but  he  and  his  kind 
come  often  enough  to  mar  the  record. 

Journalism,  like  other  professions,  has  its  body  of  special 
tasks  and  training,  but,  as  in  other  callings,  clear  com- 
prehension of  this  body  of  needs  will  develop  in  instruc- 
tion slowly.  The  case  system  in  law  and  the  laboratory 
method  in  medicine  came  after  some  generations  or  cen- 
turies of  professional  work  and  are  only  a  generation  old. 
Any  one  who  has  sought  to  know  the  development  of  these 
two  methods  sees  that  much  in  our  schools  of  journalism 
is  where  law  and  medical  schools  were  sixty  years  ago. 
We  are  still  floundering  and  have  not  yet  solved  the  prob- 
lem of  giving  background,  concision,  accuracy,  and  in- 
terest to  the  report,  of  really  editing  copy  and  not  merely 
condensing  and  heading  it,  of  recognizing  and  developing 
the  editorical  and  critical  mind,  and  most  of  all,  of  shutting 
out  early  the  shallow,  the  wrong-headed,  the  self-seeking, 
and  the  unballasted  student. 

The  very  best  law  and   medical   schools  get  the  better   The 
of  this,  and  only  the  best.     They  are  greatly  aided  by  a   coUege 
state   examination    which    tests    and    tries   all    their    work,   f^udent 

I&CjES  oz~ 

braces  their  teaching,  stimulates  their  men,  and  directs  pressionai 
their  studies.  This  will  inevitably  come  in  journalism,  ^"^sons 
though  most  practicing  newspaper  men  do  not  believe  this. 
Neither  did  doctors  before  1870  expect  this.  As  the  news- 
paper comes  closer  and  closer  into  daily  life,  inflicts  wounds 
without  healing  and  does  damage  for  which  no  remedy 
exists,  the  public  will  require  of  the  writer  on  a  daily  at 
least  as  much  proof  of  competency  as  it  does  of  a  plumber. 
This  competency  sharply  divides  between  training  in  the 
technical  work  of  the  newspaper  and  in  those  studies  that 


546 


College  Teaching 


Kind  of 
training  In 
composition 
to  be  given 
students  of 
Jonmallsm 


knowledge  which  newspaper  work  requires.  Capacity  to 
write  with  accuracy,  with  eflfect,  with  interest,  and  with 
style  is  the  first  and  most  difficult  task  among  the  technical 
requirements  of  the  public  journal.  As  has  already  been 
said,  a  gift  for  expression  is  needed,  but  even  this  cannot 
be  exercised  or  developed  unless  a  man  has  acquired  dic- 
tion and  come  in  contact  with  style,  for  all  the  arts  rest 
on  the  imitation  of  accepted  models.  Many  students  in  all 
schools  of  journalism  come  from  immigrant  families  and 
are  both  inconceivably  ignorant  of  English  and  incon- 
ceivably satisfied  with  their  acquirement  of  English,  as  we 
all  are  with  a  strange  tongue  we  have  learned  to  speak. 
Even  in  families  with  two  or  more  generations  of  American 
life,  the  vocabulary  is  limited,  construction  careless,  and 
the  daily  contact  with  any  literature,  now  that  family 
prayers  and  Bible  reading  are  gone,  almost  nil.  Of  the 
spoken  English  of  teachers  in  our  public  schools,  consid- 
ered as  the  basis  of  training  for  the  writer,  it  is  not  seemly 
to  speak.  Everybody  knows  college  teachers  who  have 
never  shaken  off  the  slovenly  phrases  and  careless  syntax 
of  their  homes.  The  thesis  on  which  advanced  degrees  are 
conferred  is  a  fair  and  just  measure  of  the  capacity  to  write 
conferred  by  eleven  years  of  education  above  the  "  grammar 
grades."  The  old  drill  in  accurate  and  exact  rendering  of 
Greek  and  Latin  was  once  the  best  training  for  the  writer; 
but  slovenly  sight  reading  has  reduced  its  value,  and  a  large 
part  of  its  true  effect  was  because  the  youth  who  studied 
the  classics  fifty  years  ago  came  in  a  far  larger  share  than 
today  from  families  whose  elders  had  themselves  had  their 
expression  and  vocabulary  trained  and  developed  by  liberal 
studies.  The  capacity  for  good  writing  apparent  at  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  rests  in  no  small  measure  on  the  classical 
family   horizon   in   teacher   and   taught. 

Those  who  turn  to  journalism  naturally  care  for  writing, 
but  in  an  art  to  "  care  "  is  little  and  most  have  never  had 
the  personal  environment,  the  training,  or  the  personal 
command  of  English  to  enable  them  to  do  more  than  write 
a  stiff  prose  with  a  narrow  vocabulary  and  no  sense  of 


The  Teaching  of  Journalism  547 


style.  Even  those  who  have  some  such  capacity  are 
hampered  by  the  family  heritage  already  outlined.  College 
writing  is  in  the  same  condition;  but  the  average  college 
man  is  not  expecting  to  earn  his  living  by  his  typewriter. 
In  order  to  receive  a  minimum  capacity  in  writing  enough 
to  pass,  every  year  of  study  for  journalism  must  have  a 
writing  course  and  the  technical  work  must  run  to  con- 
stant writing.  From  start  to  finish  there  must  be  patient, 
individual  correction.  The  use  of  the  typewriter  must  be 
made  obligatory.  Rigid  discipline  must  deal  with  errors  in 
spelling,  grammar,  the  choice  of  words  and  phrases. 
Previous  college  training  in  composition  must  in  general  be 
revised  and  made  over  to  secure  directness  and  simplicity. 
At  the  end,  the  utmost  that  can  be  gained  for  nineteen  out 
of  twenty  is  some  facility,  a  little  sense  of  style  and  dic- 
tion, and  copy  that  will  be  above  the  average  of  the  news- 
paper and  not  much  above  that.  Examine  the  writing  in 
the  newspapers  issued  by  some  schools  and  the  work  in 
schools  that  do  not,  and  a  distressingly  large  portion  is 
either  dull  or  "  smart,"  the  last,  worst  fault  of  the  two. 

Reporting  is  the  first  use  to  which  writing  is  put  and 
through  which  the  writer  is  trained.  For  this,  abundant  ma- 
terial is  indispensable,  as  much  as  clinical  material  for  a 
medical  school.  As  the  medical  schools  gravitate  to  cities, 
and  the  rural  institutions  flicker  out  one  by  one,  so  in 
the  end  the  eff^ectively  trained  reporter  will  gravitate  to 
a  large  city.  Towns  of  under  20,000  population  furnish 
a  very  tame  sort  of  reporting,  and  those  who  get  this 
training  in  them  find  reporting  is  under  new  conditions  in 
a  great  metropolis.  In  such  a  place  the  peril  is  that 
routine  news  will  take  too  much  of  the  precious  time  for 
training  the  reporter  and  the  demands  of  academic  hours 
will  interfere  with  sharing  in  the  best  of  big  stories. 

Routine  is  the  curse  of  the  newspaper,  and  it  is  at  its 
worst  in  reporting.  In  its  face  the  four  hard  things  to  get 
are  the  combination  of  the  vivid,  the  accurate,  and  the  in- 
formed and  the  condensed  story.  Equipped  newspapers 
of  high  standards  like  the  New  York   World  require  re- 


Effectiye 
training  in 
reporting 
must  be 
given  in 
large  urban 
centers 


Aims  in 
teaching 
the  art  of 
reporting 


548  College  Teaching 

course  to  reference  books,  the  "  morgue,"  and  the  files  in 
every  story  where  details  can  be  added  to  the  day's  digging 
in  that  particular  news  vein.  Condensation  comes  next. 
The  young  cub  reporter  generally  shuns  both.  He  hates 
to  look  up  his  subject.  He  spreads  himself  like  a  sitting 
hen  over  one  egg.  Both  must  be  required  for  efficient 
training.  Compression  it  is  difficult  to  enforce  in  a  school 
where  paper  bills  are  small  or  do  not  exist  and  the  space 
pressure  of  the  large  daily  is  absent.  A  number  of  dailies 
of  large  circulation  are  cultivating  very  close  handling  of 
news  and  space  for  feature  and  woman  stuff  with  very 
great  profit,  and  the  schools  give  too  little  attention  to  this 
new  phase  of  the  newspaper.  In  all  papers,  the  old  ten- 
dency to  print  anything  that  came  by  wire  is  gone  and  mere 
"  news  "  has  not  the  place  it  once  had.  In  particular,  local 
news  was  cut  down  one  half  in  a  majority  of  dailies  in  cities 
of  250,000  and  over  from  August,  1914,  to  the  close  of  the 
war.  The  small  daily  in  places  of  less  than  50,000  and 
weeklies  did  not  do  this,  which  is  one  reason  why  great 
tracts  of  the  United  States  were  not  ready  for  war  when 
it  came.     Woe  to  the  land  whose  watchmen  sleep! 

Copy-editing  is  the  next  task  in  the  training  of  the  coming 
newspaper  man.  On  the  small  daily  and  weekly,  there  is 
little  of  this,  but  it  is  practiced  on  the  metropolitan  daily. 
There  ten  to  twelve  men  are  needed,  doing  nothing  else  but 
editing  copy.  In  the  office,  two  or  three  years  are  needed 
to  bring  a  man  to  this  work.  No  school  can  teach  this  un- 
less its  men  give  at  least  a  full  day  to  editing  a  flood  of 
copy  that  will  fill  a  12  to  16  page  newspaper.  Where  the 
work  of  the  students  runs  day  by  day  on  the  copy  of  one  of 
the  lesser  dailies,  editing  for  that  purpose  is  secured,  but 
not  the  intensive  training  needed  to  handle  the  copy-desk 
requirements  of  newspapers  in  a  city  of  1,000,000  popula- 
tion or  more  in  its  urban  ring.  Success  in  this  field  is 
proved  when  men  go  direct  from  the  classroom  to  such  a 
desk.  This  carries  with  it  tuition  in  heads  for  all  needs, 
make-up,  and  the  close  editing  of  special  articles,  features, 
and  night  Associated  Press  copy. 


The  Teaching  of  Journalism  549 

Newspaper  training  will  always  deal  also  with  subjects   a  liberal 
and  needs  a  course  containing  a  larger  proportion  of  the   must  be 

studies  usually  taught  in  college  or  offered  in  its  curricu-   part  of 
1  »*     1-    •  •  I  I         .  1    training 

lum.  Medicine  requires  the  same  chemistry,  organic  and  for  jour- 
inorganic,  the  same  physics,  and  the  same  elementary  ^^^^ 
biology  as  our  college  courses  cover;  these  sciences  are 
more  or  less  like  a  Mother  Hubbard,  no  very  close  fit  and 
concealing  more  than  is  revealed.  Johns  Hopkins  has 
been  able  at  this  point  to  apply  tests,  personal  and  particu- 
lar, gauging  both  teacher  and  taught,  more  searching  than 
are  elsewhere  required.  The  fruits  abundantly  justify  this 
course,  and  in  time  some  school  of  journalism  will  apply 
like  tests  to  history, —  ancient,  medieval,  and  modern, — 
political  economy,  political  science,  and  the  modem 
languages,  which  are  the  basis  of  its  work.  The  practical 
difficulty  is  that  it  is  far  easier  to  test  the  three  sciences 
just  mentioned  than  history,  politics,  and  economics.  No 
one  will  seriously  assert  that  these  are  as  rigorously  taught 
as  chemistry,  physics,  and  biology.  The  personal  equation 
of  the  teacher  counts  for  more,  it  is  both  easier  and  more 
tempting  to  inject  social  theories,  not  yet  tested  by  current 
facts,  than  in  science.  Sciolism  is  less  easily  detected  in 
courses  which  deal  with  the  humanitarian  field  than  in 
science,  but  it  is  not  less  perilous  and  it  is  not  less  possible 
to  apply  the  same  experimental  tests  as  in  the  scientific 
laboratory.  He  is  blind,  however,  who  does  not  see  that 
much  advance  in  the  current  teaching  at  any  time  of  history, 
politics,  and  economics  has  had  its  experimental  tests  as 
complete  and  as  convincing  as  in  any  laboratory,  which 
certain  teachers  wholly  refuse  to  accept  —  sometimes  be- 
cause they  are  behind  the  times,  sometimes  because  they 
are  before  the  times;  sometimes  they  are  in  no  time  what- 
ever but  the  fool  time  of  vain  imaginings  that  somewhere, 
somewhen,  and  somehow  there  is  a  place  where  human  de- 
sires are  stronger  than  the  inevitable  laws  which  guide  and 
guard  the  physics,  the  chemistry,  and  the  biology  of  social 
bodies. 
A  notable  difference  exists   between  the  views  of  law 


550  College  Teaching 

Social  taught  and  discussed  in  a  law  school  and  in  a  school  of 

must  be  political  science.     The  medical  lectures  preserve  a  sobriety 

related  jjj  discussing  sundry  biological  problems  not  always  present 

in  advanced  courses  of  biology.  Both  lecturers,  in  both 
instances,  are  scientific  men,  both  are  faithful  to  the  truths 
of  science,  but  as  a  distinguished  economist,  who  in  his 
early  years  had  been  accused  of  being  an  advanced  social- 
ist, said,  after  he  had  won  a  comfortable  fortune  by  judi- 
cious investments  in  business,  banking,  and  realty,  to  a 
friend  of  earlier  and  far-distant  years:  "  My  principles  re- 
main exactly  the  same,  but,  I  admit,  my  point  of  view  has 
changed."  There  is  not  one  biology  of  the  medical  school, 
another  of  the  biological  laboratory.  Neither  does  the 
body  of  law  differ  in  a  law  school  or  in  a  school  of  politi- 
cal science.  The  principles  remain  exactly  the  same.  Of 
necessity,  however,  the  point  of  view  has  changed  and  treat- 
ment has  changed  with  it.     So  has  responsibility. 

The  subject  offers  some  difficulties.  The  analogy  is  not 
at  all  points  exact.  Medicine  and  law  have  a  definite  body 
of  doctrine.  Schools  of  biology  and  political  science  have 
not,  but  granting  all  this,  it  still  remains  true  that  exactly 
as  the  law  student  and  the  medical  student  must  have  what 
is  defined,  established,  and  unmistakable  in  the  world  of 
law  and  of  life,  so  the  student  looking  to  journalism  needs 
and  must  have  what  is  defined,  established,  and  unmistak- 
able in  economics  and  political  science.  Here,  again,  no 
one  will  pretend  that  the  usual  college  course  in  either  of 
these  branches  is  taught  with  the  same  determination  to  keep 
within  the  same  metes  and  bounds  of  recorded,  tested,  and 
ascertained  facts  as  is  true  of  courses  in  physics,  chemistry, 
and  biology.  The  boundary  marked  is  less  distinct.  The 
periodic  law  by  which  the  atomic  values  of  elements  are 
established  is  more  definite  than  the  periodic  law  under 
which  wealth  is  distributed  through  society,  though  in  the 
end  some  Mendelleeff  will  record  the  periodic  law  of  social 
elements  in  their  composition  and  action.  Research  is 
needed  and  must  be  free.  Theory  and  speculation  are  as 
necessary  to  secure  an  experiment  and  observation.     The 


The  Teaching  of  Journalism  551 


principle  is  clear,  however,  that  the  student  who  is  to  make 
professional  use  of  a  topic  needs  to  have  a  definite  and 
established  instruction,  not  required  in  one  to  whom  topic 
is  incidental.  The  medical  student  or  law  student  who  has 
a  new  view  of  economic  results  or  a  new  theory  of  the  cause 
and  purpose  of  our  judicial  and  constitutional  system  as 
organized  to  protect  the  few  against  the  many  will  work 
this  off  in  the  school  of  life,  and  is  unaffected  in  his  pro- 
fessional work.  The  journalist  within  his  first  year's  work 
must  apply  his  college  economics  and  political  science,  and 
a  wrong  starting  point  may  have  serious  consequences  to 
his  own  career  in  the  end,  perhaps  to  society.  Fortunately 
the  work  of  the  journalist  so  brings  him  in  contact  with 
things  as  they  are,  that  the  body  of  newspaper  writers,  taken 
as  a  whole,  represents  the  stability  of  society.  The  convic- 
tions and  principles  created  by  their  daily  work  tend  this 
way.  The  labor  union  has  few  illusions  to  the  reporter,  and 
it  was  the  editorial  writers  of  the  land  who  carried  the  gold 
standard  in  1896,  when  many  a  publisher  was  hazy  and 
scary.  The  causes  of  crime  grow  pretty  clear  to  a  police 
reporter,  and  a  few  assignments  in  which  a  newspaper  man 
sees  a  riot  convinces  him  of  the  value  of  public  order, 
rigidly  enforced.  None  the  less,  the  reporter  should  start 
right  on  these  sciences,  basic  in  his  calling;  in  the  end, 
as  the  medical  school  has  steadied  the  college  teaching  of 
chemistry  and  biology,  so  the  school  of  journalism,  the 
school  of  business,  and  the  school  of  railroad  practice  et  al 
will  steady  economics  and  political  science.  But  the  duty 
of  the  college  and  university  remains  clear,  to  be  as  watch- 
ful that  the  sciences  of  social  action  and  reaction  shall  be 
taught  with  the  same  adherence  to  the  established  and  the 
same  responsibility  to  their  professional  use  as  the  sciences 
of  physical,  chemical,  and  biological  action  and  reaction. 
The  college  studies  needed  as  preparation  for  journalism 
call  for  a  special  proficiency  and  content  as  much  as  for  a 
professional  viewpoint.  The  journalist  makes  precisely  the 
same  use  of  his  fundamental  studies  as  does  the  medical 
student  of  his.     If  a  future  lawyer  neglects  his  chemistry 


Especially 
adapted 
content  In 
social  sci- 
ences to 
meet  pro- 
fessional 
needs 


552 


College  Teaching 


and  biology,  it  is  of  little  moment.  He  can  get  up  what 
he  needs  of  a  case.  A  medical  student  who  neglects  these 
studies  will  find  that  the  best  schools  bar  him.  In  time 
the  school  of  journalism  will  refuse  the  college  passing 
mark  for  admission.  The  newspaper  man  almost  from  the 
start  has  to  use  his  economics,  his  political  science,  and 
his  history.  Elementary  economics  is  in  great  measure 
given  to  theory,  though  a  change  has  begun.  For  the 
journalist,  this  course  needs  to  be  brought  in  close  con- 
tact with  the  actual  economic  working  of  society.  The 
theory  may  be  useful  to  the  man  who  expects  in  the  end 
to  teach  economics.  It  is  of  next  to  no  value  to  the  writer 
on  public  affairs.  Of  what  possible  use  is  it  to  him  to 
learn  the  various  theoretic  explanations  of  Boehm-Bawerk's 
cost  and  value?  The  newspaper  man  needs  to  see  these 
things  and  be  taught  them  as  Bagehot  wrote  on  them  and 
Walker  and  Sumner  taught  them. 

In  Columbia,  this  change  is  already  recognized  as  neces- 
sary. So  in  political  science,  the  actual  working  of  the 
body  politic  needs  to  be  taught,  and  this  is  too  often 
neglected  for  explanatory  theories  and  a  special  interpreta- 
tion. A  single  elementary  course  in  chemistry,  physics,  or 
biology  presupposes  two  or  three  more  courses  which  fill 
out  the  special  opening  sketch.  Newspaper  works  requires 
a  general  account  of  science,  derided  by  the  scientist  who 
is  himself  satisfied  in  his  own  education  with  a  similar 
sketch  in  history.  These  general  science  courses  are  being 
smuggled  in  as  "  history  of  science,"  or  "  scientific  nomen- 
clature." Much  can  be  done  in  a  year  with  such  a  three- 
hour  course,  if  the  teaching  be  in  exceptional  hands;  but 
adequate  treatment  requires  two  years  of  three  hours,  one 
on  organic  and  one  on  inorganic  science.  The  latter  should 
give  a  view  of  anthropology  and  the  former  dwell  on  the 
application  of  science  in  modern  industry. 

College  history  courses  end  thirty  to  fifty  years  ago. 
The  journalist  needs  to  know  closely  the  last  thirty  years, 
at  home  and  abroad.  Weeks  given  to  colonial  charters  in 
American  history  are  as  much  waste  as  to  set  a  law  student 


Tlic  Teaching  of  Journalism 


553 


to  a  special  study  of  the  Year  Books  of  Edward  I  and  II. 
College  students  have  to  put  up  with  a  good  deal  of  this 
kind  of  waste.  If  twelve  hours  can  be  assigned  to  history, 
three  should  be  on  the  classical  period,  three  introductory 
to  the  modern  world,  three  to  European  history  since  1870, 
and  three  hours  for  American  history;  at  least  two  of  these 
three  hours  should  go  to  American  history  since  Garfield. 

The  writing  course  should  be  used  to  supplement  this 
by  articles  on  both  these  fields  so  that  a  student  will  learn 
the  sources  of  history  for  the  last  thirty  years,  its  treaties, 
its  elections,  its  rriovements,  its  statutes,  its  reference  works. 
He  will  need  all  this  knowledge  as  soon  as  he  has  to  write 
as  a  correspondent,  a  feature  writer,  or  an  editor,  on  the 
important  topics  of  the  day.  Statistics  need  to  supplement 
economics  and  advanced  courses,  two,  if  possible,  should 
give  knowledge  and  method  in  the  approach  to  new  prob- 
lems in  currency,  banking,  trusts,  and  unions.  At  least  one 
general  course  in  philosophy  is  needed,  and  Freud  is  as 
important  for  him  here  as  Aristotle.  The  contact  of  the 
newspaper  man  with  book  reviewing,  book  advertising,  and 
the  selection  of  fiction  and  news  in  supplements  and  maga- 
zines calls  for  the  "survey  course  in  English  literature" 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  current  movement  in  letters  for 
thirty  years  back.  In  science,  in  politics,  in  history,  in 
economics,  in  philosophy,  and  in  letters,  it  is  indispensable 
that  the  young  newspaper  man  should  be  introduced  by 
lecture,  and  still  more  by  reading,  to  the  speaking  figures 
of  his  own  day  on  affairs,  political  life,  letters,  the  theatre, 
and  art. 

These  things  are  indispensable.  The  man  who  knows 
them  can  learn  to  write  and  edit,  but  the  man  who  can  only 
write  and  edit  and  does  not  know  them  will  speedily  run 
dry  in  the  newspaper,  weekly  and  monthly.  News  is  today 
standardized.  Each  President,  each  decade,  each  great  war, 
the  Associated  Press  and  City  Press  Associations  cover 
more  completely  the  current  news.  Presentation,  comment, 
handling  special  articles,  grow  each  year  more  important 
and  more  in  demand.     The  price  of  supplement  and  maga- 


Secent 
progress  in 
all  subjects 
must  be 
summed  up 
for  the 
student  of 
Joornallsm 


The  jour- 
nalist must 
ever  be  a 
student  of 
human  af- 
fairs 


554  College  Teaching 

zine  articles  has  trebled  in  the  last  twenty  years.  The 
newspaper  grows  more  and  more  to  be  a  platform,  par- 
ticularly the  Sunday  newspaper  and  popular  magazine. 
If  a  man  is  to  be  a  figure  in  the  day's  conflict  and  on  its 
wider  issues,  he  needs  the  special  training  just  outlined, 
and  when  this  outline  is  begun,  he  will  find  the  toil  of  the 
years  in  these  fields  has  but  begun.  About  the  safe 
harbors  of  journalism  where  men  come  and  go,  dealing 
with  the  aff'airs  of  and  finding  the  ready  market  of  the  day, 
are  the  reefs  strewn  with  the  wrecks  of  ready  and  often 
"  brilliant "  writers  whose  few  brief  years  left  them  empty 
and  adrift,  telling  all  they  meet  that  no  man  can  long  earn 
a  fair  income  and  hold  his  own  through  the  years  in 
journalism. 

A  school  can  ameliorate  all  this  by  one  course  which  re- 
quires much  reading  of  the  Bible  and  Shakespeare,  by 
furnishing  in  the  school  library  abundant  access  to  the 
best  current  prose  and  verse  of  the  day  which  will  directly 
appeal  to  the  young  reader,  since  each  decade  has  its  new 
gods  in  letters,  and  by  selecting  teachers  for  the  profes- 
sional courses  who  have  shown  that  they  can  write  at  least 
well  enough  to  be  paid  by  newspapers  and  magazines  for 
their  work.  The  teacher  in  writing  whose  work  is  not 
salable  is  not  as  likely  to  teach  students  how  to  write  so 
that  their  work  can  sell  as  one  who  has  earned  his  living 
by  selling  his  stuff. 

Talcott  Williams 

School  of  Journalism,  Columbia  University 


B 


XXVIII 
BUSINESS  EDUCATION 

USINESS  education  of  collegiate  grade  is  a  very  recent    Evolution  of 
development.     The    world's    first   commercial   college    Bducation 


was  established  at  Antwerp  in  1852,  while  the  forerunner 
of  American  institutions  of  this  sort,  the  Wharton  School, 
was  founded  in  1881.  Others  followed  in  the  nineties,  but 
the  general  establishment  of  schools  of  commerce  as  parts 
of  colleges  and  universities,  as  well  as  the  inclusion  of 
business  subjects  in  the  curricula  of  liberal  colleges,  took 
place  after  1900.  This  sudden  flowering  at  the  top  was 
preceded  by  a  long  evolution  quite  typical  of  the  develop- 
ment of  education  in  all  the  branches  of  learning  to  which 
institutions  devote  time  because  of  their  cultural  or  pro- 
fessional worth. 

Some  practical  end  and  not  the  desire  for  abstract  knowl- 
edge prompted  early  instruction  and  stimulated  business 
education  as  well  as  education  in  general  through  various 
stages  of  progress.  Of  course  all  education  is  a  process 
whereby  technical  operations  and  abstract  truth  developed 
by  many  generations  are  systematized,  compressed,  and 
imparted  to  individuals  in  a  relatively  sjjort  time. 

The  first  stage  in  the  evolution  in  a  given  field  may  be 
called  the  apprentice  stage.  Just  as  physicians,  lawyers, 
and  in  fact  practitioners  in  all  the  professions  and  crafts 
trained  their  assistants  in  their  establishments  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  them  proficient  in  their  daily  work,  so  did 
merchants  at  this  stage  give  apprentice  training  in  com- 
mercial branches  to  their  employees.  Traditional  ways  of 
carrying  out  certain  transactions,  convenient  rules  of  thumb, 
and  habits  of  neatness  and  reliability  were  passed  on  in  a 
given  establishment.  As  industry  grew  and  guilds  were 
formed,  the  training  tended  to  become  more  standardized 
and  merchants  joined  in  establishing  guild  schools  for  their 

555 


556  College  Teaching 

employees.  Many  such  schools  were  conducted  in  the 
various  crafts,  and  their  modern  counterparts  are  the  well- 
known  vocational  or  trade  schools.  This  vocational  train- 
ing stage  was  developed  by  business  men  for  persons  not 
employed  as  productive  craftsmen  but  rather  as  workers  in 
business  offices  which  administered  production  and  directly 
attended  to  selling  and  exchange,  and  for  others  looking 
forward  to  such  employment.  At  this  stage  there  grew  up 
also  private  schools,  usually  conducted  by  teachers  es- 
pecially proficient  in  particular  lines  of  service.  Thus 
inventors  of  shorthand  systems,  devisers  of  systems  of  pen- 
manship, and  authors  of  methods  of  bookkeeping  and  ac- 
counting set  up  schools  in  these  specialties.  Here  we  have 
training  outside  the  business  house  itself  to  prepare  for 
participation  in  business,  and  the  enterprises  flourish  be- 
cause there  is  a  demand  for  the  people  they  train.  At  this 
stage  rules  of  thumb  are  supplanted  by  systems  based  on 
principles,  and  the  way  is  paved  for  the  technical  school 
stage.  The  training  here  is  practical,  but  it  is  broad  and 
based  on  scientific  knowledge.  This  stage  is  not  reached 
in  all  fields  of  endeavor,  for  some  stop  at  the  first  or  the 
second,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  existence  of  a  higher 
stage  of  education  does  not  preclude  the  continuation  at  the 
same  time  of  agencies  carrying  on  instruction  after  the 
mode  of  the  lower  stages.  With  the  rise  of  the  factory 
system  and  the  extension  of  capitalistic  production  and 
industrial  integration  in  the  form  of  "  big  business,"  there 
came  a  demand  in  the  business  world  for  men  widely  in- 
formed and  thoroughly  trained.  Not  only  did  men  to  meet 
this  demand  have  to  have  good  foundations  of  general 
education,  but  they  needed  technical  preparation  in  the 
specialized  field  of  business  itself. 

Business  science  is  not  only  applied  science,  but  it  is 
secondary  or  derived  from  a  number  of  the  fundamental 
sciences.  It  draws  its  principles  from  the  physical  sciences 
of  physics,  chemistry,  geologv,  and  biology;  it  utilizes  the 
engineering  applications  of  these  sciences;  it  derives  valu- 


Business  Education  557 

able  information  from  physiology  and  psychology,  and  it 
makes  use  of  the  modern  languages.  Borrowing  from  all 
the  pure  sciences  and  their  applied  counterparts,  it  formu- 
lates its  own  regulations  so  that  it  may  manage  the  work 
of  the  world  economically,  so  that  it  may  bring  about  the 
production  of  goods  necessary  to  meet  humanity's  many, 
varied,  and  recurrent  wants,  and  make  these  commodities 
available  in  advantageous  times  and  places  with  individual 
title  to  them  established  according  to  existing  standards  of 
personal  justice  and  social  expediency. 

The  final  stage,  the  cultural  stage,  is  reached  when  the 
educator  determines  that  the  field  in  question  is  so  much 
a  part  of  the  general  civilization  or  intellectual  wealth  of 
the  world  that  it  ought  to  receive  some  consideration,  not 
only  by  specialists  in  the  field  but  also  by  the  student 
pursuing  a  well-planned  course  of  a  general  or  non- 
technical character  designed  to  enable  him  to  appreciate 
and  play  some  role  in  the  world  in  which  he  lives.  It  is 
because  new  branches  of  human  endeavor  constantly  blos- 
som forth  into  this  stage,  while  more  ancient  branches 
wither  and  no  longer  bear  fruit  of  contemporary  signifi- 
cance, that  the  very  humanities  themselves  change  as  well 
as  realities. 

Business  as  a  field  of  human  thought  and  activity  has 
reached  this  stage,  and  educators  reckon  with  it  in  laying 
out  courses  of  general  elementary,  secondary,  and  collegiate 
study. 

No  one  would  contend  that  educators  should  in  any 
way  cease  to  offer  general  or  cultural  courses,  but  they 
should  insist  that  these  general  courses  embrace  all  of 
humanity's  wealth,  including  that  which  modem  society 
contributed,  and  that  they  should  with  each  addition  re- 
shape their  general  offerings  so  that  appropriate  propor- 
tions will  be  preserved. 

Before  the  development  of  modern  highly  organized  pro- 
duction, business  training  would  have  been  synonymous 
with  commercial  training;  that  is,  training  to  prepare  men 


558  College  Teaching 

^rb^'in"*  *°  P^^y  their  parts  in  the  exchange  of  goods.  This  would 
education  embrace  correspondence  with  customers,  the  keeping  of 
records  of  stock,  the  cost  of  stock,  making  out  bills,  and 
attending  to  all  financial  operations  which  were  associated 
with  marketing  and  exchange.  Successful  training  would 
imply,  of  course,  the  broad  foundational  grasp  of  arithme- 
tic, reading,  and  writing  of  the  mother  tongue  and  of  such 
foreign  languages  as  the  nature  of  the  market  might  re- 
quire, a  grasp  of  various  money  values,  banking  procedure, 
and  other  information  concerning  financial  affairs,  the 
means  of  transportation,  freight  charges,  etc.  Manual  skill 
had  to  be  developed  in  penmanship,  in  the  technique  of 
bookkeeping,  general  office  organization,  and  filing.  With 
the  invention  of  mechanical  and  labor-saving  office  devices, 
facility  in  operating  them  was  required  to  supplement  skill 
in  penmanship. 

Of  course,  with  the  development  of  the  market  the  com- 
plexity of  office  management  increased.  In  modern  times 
the  business  man  concerns  himself  not  only  with  the  duties 
of  the  merchant  and  exchanger,  but  also  with  the  organiza- 
tion of  industry  and  economical  procedure.  The  modern 
business  man,  entrepreneur  or  manager,  and  all  those  as- 
sisting him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  perform  functions 
in  two  directions:  first,  in  the  direction  of  the  market  in 
the  establishment  of  price,  in  the  selling  of  his  goods,  and 
in  attending:  to  all  matters  which  flow  therefrom,  and  sec- 
ondly toward  the  production  plant  itself;  while  he  employs 
technicians  who  know  how  to  perform  operations  skillfully 
according  to  the  laws  of  science,  nevertheless  he  must  know 
how  to  buy  labor  and  how  to  organize  labor  and  materials 
and  put  them  in  coordinate  working  relationship  most 
economically. 

We  can  therefore  define  business  education  as  education 
which  directly  prepares  people  to  discharge  the  business 
function:  namely,  the  economical  organization  of  men  and 
materials  in  production  and  the  most  advantageous  dis- 
tribution and  exchange  of  the  commodities  or  service  for 
consumption. 


Buifineits  Education 


559 


In  the  modern  world  it  is  hard  sometimes  to  draw  the 
line  between  the  field  of  technology  in  production  and  the 
field  of  business  management  in  production,  but  in  general 
the  two  functions  are  fairly  distinct.  The  technician  is 
interested  in  operations  of  production,  while  the  business 
manager  is  interested  in  their  economical  organization  and 
in  their  government  with  relation  to  market  conditions. 
The  very  engineers  themselves  must  be  selected,  engineered, 
and  paid  by  the  business  man.  The  business  manager  is 
interested  in  keeping  the  total  price  of  his  commodities 
above  his  total  entrepreneur's  cost.  The  technician  is  in- 
terested in  inventing  and  operating  the  machinery  of  pro- 
duction, if  and  when  the  business  man  determines  what 
operations  will  be  profitable. 

The  aims  of  business  education  are,  first  and  foremost, 
professional;  second,  civic;  and  third,  cultural.  At  no 
time  can  the  three  be  separated,  but  it  is  possible  to  devise 
a  curriculum  which  stresses  one  or  two  of  the  aims.  It  is 
also  possible  to  treat  a  subject  so  as  to  emphasize  technical 
and  practical  skill  or  to  promote  philosophical  reflection. 

The  professional  aim  prompted  the  establishment  of  the 
first  schools  or  colleges  of  commerce,  and  it  is  kept  to  the 
fore  not  only  in  institutions  giving  courses  of  study  which 
lead  to  distinctive  degrees  in  commerce,  but  also  in  places 
which  give  specialized  instruction  in  particular  fields.  We 
shall  consider  curricula  of  the  following  types: 

Type  I.  Curriculum  designed  to  give  the  student  train- 
ing to  meet  a  definite  professional  requirement 
established  by  law. 

Type  II.  Curriculum  designed  to  make  a  student  profi- 
cient in  a  particular  narrow  field. 

Type  III.  Curriculum  leadfng  to  a  baccalaureate  degree 
in  commerce  or  business,  vertical  type. 

Type  IV.  Curriculum  leading  to  a  baccalaureate  degree 
in  commerce  or  business,  horizontal  type. 


Aims  and 
curricula  of 
business 
education 


560  College  TeachiJig 


TYPE    I.      A    TECHNICAL    COURSE,    DESIGNED    TO    PREPARE 

STUDENTS  TO  MEET  THE  STATE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  CERTIFIED  PUBLIC  ACCOUNTANTS 

Entrance  requirements  for  students  matriculating  for  the 
whole  course  as  candidates  for  a  Diploma  of  Graduate 
in  Accountancy  —  high  school  graduation,  college  en- 
trance or  a  State  Regents'  C.P.A.  Qualifying  Certifi- 
cate. 

Non-matriculated  students  —  mature  persons  wishing  to 
pursue  certain  subjects  without  academic  credit. 

Prescribed 

Accounting,  Theory,  Practice  and  Problems 

4  terms,  4  hours  a  week  —  256  hours 
This  course  covers  general  accounting  for  the 
single  proprietor,  partnerships  and  corporations, 
embracing  financing,  manufacturing,  and  selling 
operations,  with  agencies  and  branches,  the  forma- 
tion of  mergers,  syndicates,  holding  companies, 
etc.;  dissolutions  and  reorganizations. 

Cost  accounting  1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 

Auditing  1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 

Public  utilities  accounting 

1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 

Judicial  ( fiduciary)  accounting 

1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 
Advanced  accounting,  theory,  and  problems 

2  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  64  hours 
Commercial  Law 

3  terms,  3  hours  a  week  144  hours 

Covering  general  principles  of  law,  contracts,  and 
all  forms  of  special  contracts  of  interest  to  the 
business  man,  especially  those  related  to  personal 
property,  risk  insurance,  credit  and  real  property, 
and  forms  of  business  associations. 


Business  Kdiication  5G1 

Economics 

Economic  principles 

1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
Economic  development  of  the  United  States 

1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
Money  and  banking  1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
English  —  Written,  Business  English 

2  terms,  2  hours  a  week  —  64  hours 
Oral  English  —  Public  Speaking 

4  terms,  1  hour  a  week  —  64  hours 
Additional  electives  —  one  course  of  at  least  96  hours  in 
Government    and    enough    other    elective    subjects    in 
technical  commercial  work  or  Political  Science  to  ac- 
crue at  least  a  total  of  1000  hours. 

The  available  additional  electives  in  accounting  are 
advanced  courses  in  different  special  fields  such  as 
Advanced  Cost  Accounting,  Municipal  Accounting  — 
General  and  Departmental,  Systems  for  particular  in- 
dustries or  forms  of  business.  Public  Utilities  Rate 
Making  and  Regulation,  etc. 

In  Government  the  available  electives  include  such 
subjects  as  American  Government  and  Citizenship, 
American  Constitutional  Law,  International  Law,  Po- 
litical Theory,  Comparative  Government,  State  Legisla- 
tion and  Administration,  Municipal  Administration, 
etc. 

In  Political  Science,  courses  in  Economics  and  Busi- 
ness, such  as  Economic  Problems,  Business  Organi- 
zation and  Management,  Public  Finance,  Foreign 
Trade,  Foreign  Exchange,  Insurance,  Advertising, 
Salesmanship,  etc.,  are  available,  while  general  and 
special  courses  may  be  taken  in  Sociology  and  Statis- 
tics. 

Courses  of  study  of  this  sort  in  a  specialized  field  are 
offered  in  colleges  usually  at  night  for  students  who  are 
in  active  business  during  the  day.  With  more  or  less  ex- 
tensive additions  in  scientific,  literary,  and  linguistic  fields 


562  College  Teaching 

they  become  the  curricula  leading  to  baccalaureate  degrees 
as  represented  by  Type  III,  to  follow.  Large  private  insti- 
tutes or  schools  conducted  for  profit  and  also  correspond- 
ence institutions  offer  similar  courses.  Other  groups  of 
studies  in  particular  fields  are:  in  banking,  in  transporta- 
tion or  traffic,  in  sales  management,  including  advertising 
and  salesmanship,  and  in  foreign  trade. 

A  group  in  Foreign  Trade  will  typify  this  sort  of  course 
of  study,  which  differs  from  the  one  in  Accountancy  just 
given  because  the  make-up  will  be  determined  wholly  by 
each  institution  quite  independent  of  legally  established 
professional   standards. 

TYPE  II.      TO  PREPARE  STUDENTS  FOR  WORK  IN  A 
SPECIAL  FIELD,  FOREIGN   TRADE 

Principles  of  economics 

1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
Economic  resources  of  the  U.  S. 

1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
Commercial  geography 

1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
Money  and  banking  1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
Foreign  exchange  1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
Foreign  credit  1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 

International  law  1  term,  3  hours  a  week  —  48  hours 
Tariff  history  of  the  U.  S. 

1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 
U.  S.  and  foreign  customs  administrations 

1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 
Export  technique  1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 
Practical  steamship  operation 

1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 
Marketing  and  salesmanship 

General   course          1  term,  2  hours  a  week  —  32  hours 
Special  courses  as  desired  on  South  American  Mar- 
kets,   Mediterranean    Markets,    Russian    Markets, 
Northwest  Empire  Markets,  etc. 


Business  Edtication  563 

Foreign  Languages: 

Practical  courses  in  Conversation  and  correspond- 
ence in  French,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  German, 
Russian,  etc.,  according  to  market  in  which  trade 
is  specialized,  at  least 

4  terms,  3  hours  a  week  —  192  hours 

Total  (in  2  years,  with  weekly  schedule  of  10  or  12  hrs.) 

672  hours 

A  special  course  of  this  sort  usually  leads  to  a  certificate 
hut  not  a  diploma  or  degree.  Obviously  the  technical  aim 
is  very  prominent,  though  civic  and  cultural  benefits  o£  no 
mean  character  will  of  necessity  be  derived.  New  groups 
will  be  found  as  new  fields  of  business  become  important 
and  develop  definite,  recognizable  requirements  of  a 
scientific  sort.  Naturally  each  such  specialty  goes  through 
the  usual  evolution  and  contributes  its  philosophical  dis- 
tillation or  essence  to  the  cultural  college  course. 

When  we  come  to  the  construction  of  a  curriculum  lead- 
ing to  a  bachelor's  degree  in  business,  economics,  or  com- 
merce, we  have  the  problems  of  the  engineering  schools. 
Just  how  far  will  specialization  be  carried,  in  what  sequence 
will  the  foundational  subjects  and  the  specialties  be  taken 
up,  and  to  what  extent  will  other  more  general  subjects  not 
directly  contributing  to  a  technical  end  be  admitted?  In 
most  institutions  of  good  standards  the  degree  is  regarded 
as  representing  not  only  technical  proficiency  in  business 
but  also  some  acquaintance  with  science,  politics,  and  let- 
ters in  general.  The  question  (already  an  old  one  in 
schools  of  engineering)  arises  then  concerning  the  best  way 
to  arrange  the  special  or  distinctively  business  subjects  in 
relation  to  the  more  general.  Although  there  are  a  number 
of  variations,  two  outstanding  types  are  recognizable.  We 
may  devise  labels  for  them:  the  vertical  curriculum,  which 
offers  both  general  and  special  courses  side  by  side  right 
up  through  the  college  course,  and  the  horizontal,  which 
requires  a  completion  of  the  whole  or  nearly  all  of  the 
general  group  during  the  first  two  years  of  college  before 
the  special  subjects  are  pursued  in  the  last  two. 


hours  a  week  — 

-  2  terms 

hour     a  week  - 

-2  terms 

hour     a  week  - 

-2  terms 

564  College  Teaching 


TYPE   III.      VERTICAL  TYPE  OF  UNDERGRADUATE 

CURRICULUM,    LEADING   TO   THE   DEGREE 

OF  B.  S.  IN  ECONOMICS 

Entrance:     College  entrance  requirements. 

Requirement  for  graduation:  74  units,  of  which  40  must  be 
in  general  business  and  in  liberal  subjects,  with  34  in 
specialized  fields  of  business  activity,  to  be  taken  after 
the  freshman  year, 

A  unit  here  represents  successful  work  for  one  hour  a  week  for 
two  semesters.  Therefore  the  total  74  is  equivalent  to  148  of  th6 
usual  collegiate  units. 

Freshman  Required  Work 
English    composition  2 

English,  history  of  the  language  1 
English  literature  1 

Chemistry  —  general  "1 

or  ^3  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 

Business  law  J 

Physical  education  2  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 

Government  —  federal  and  state  3  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 
Principles  of  economics  3  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 

Economic  resources  2  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 

Accounting general   course     3  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 

Sophomore  Required  Work 
English  literature  and  composition 

3  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 
Physical  education  2  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 

General  history  2  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 

Required  before  End  of  Junior  Year 

Additional  political  science         2  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 
Physical  education  1  hour    a  week  —  2  terms 

Required  before  Graduation 
Additional  history  3  hours  a  week  —  2  terms 


Business  Education  565 

Physical  education  1  hour     a  week  —  2  terms 

A  modern  language  beyond  the  first  year  in  college 

3  hours  a  week  —  4  terms 
Total  required  units  40  units 

Elect  after  the   Freshman   year  courses  aggregating  34 
additional  units  in  fields  of 
I.     Business  law  4  courses,  10  units  available 

II.     Commerce  and  transportation 

9  courses,  19  units  available 

III.  Economics  8  courses,  15  units  available 

IV.  Finance  and  accounting 

20  courses,  53  units  available 
V.     Geography  and  industry 

11  courses,  26  units  available 

VI.     Insurance  7  courses,  16  units  available 

VII.     Political  science         22  courses,  43  units  available 

VIII.     Sociology  6  courses,  12  units  available 

Total  required  for  the  degree,  74  units 

There  is  a  school  which  grants  a  degree  in  Commerce  for 
the  equivalent  of  36  of  these  units  or  72  of  the  usual  college 
credits,  if  the  student  has  business  experience,  and  for  the 
equivalent  of  48  of  these  units  or  96  of  the  usual  college 
credits  if  he  has  not.  The  course  is  essentially  like  Type  I 
and  includes  no  broad  liberal  requirements  in  literature, 
foreign  language,  and  history  and  on  the  other  hand  is 
not  so  strictly  prescribed  as  Type  I.  A  strictly  technical 
degree  may  be  desirable  for  such  a  short  course,  provided 
the  prescription  is  severe  and  includes  languages.  Gener- 
ally it  seems  best  to  reserve  degrees  for  full  college  courses 
of  four  years  or  more  which  include  a  reasonable  general 
requirement  in  languages  and  science.  This  leads  us  to 
Type  IV,  or  the  curriculum  which  requires  the  first  regular 
two  years  of  the  college  course  prescribed  for  one  of  the 
liberal  degrees  and  permits  business  specialization  in  the 
last  two  undergraduate  years  or  these  with  an  additional 
postgraduate  year.     One  institution  requires  the  first  three. 


566  College  Teaching 

years  as  a  foundation  for  a  two-year  course  in  business,  and 
one  conducts  a  postgraduate  school  of  business  administra- 
tion leading  to  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  in  Business  Economics. 
No  doubt  postgraduate  work  will  be  continued  mainly  in  the 
research  direction,  but  undergraduate  day  and  continuation 
courses  will  be  devoted  mainly  to  preparation  for  business. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  illustrate  Type  IV,  because  the  first 
two  years  consist  simply  of  the  Freshman  and  Sophomore 
work  of  any  sort  of  liberal  college  course,  Classical,  Scien- 
tific, or  Modern  Language,  while  the  succeeding  years  are 
made  up  of  special  work  in  Economics  and  Business  of  more 
or  less  concentrated  character. 

The  advantage  of  the  type  is  obviously  administrative. 
The  whole  vexing  problem  of  insuring  fairly  wide  cultiva- 
tion along  with  opportunities  for  specialization  is  con- 
veniently settled  by  giving  general  training,  most  of  it 
remote  from  business  work,  for  two  years,  after  which  the 
student  is  considered  cultivated  enough  to  withstand  the 
blighting  effect  of  specialization.  But  there  are  serious 
pedagogical  objections  to  this  arrangement  which  make  the 
vertical  plan  seem  preferable.  A  student  coming  from  one 
of  our  constantly  improving  high  schools  of  commerce  is 
checked  for  two  years  and  given  time  to  forget  all  the  book- 
keeping and  other  commercial  work  which  he  has  learned 
and  on  which  advanced  commercial  instruction  may  be 
built,  while  he  pursues  an  academic  course.  It  would  be 
far  better  to  continue  the  modern  languages,  the  mathe- 
matics, and  natural  sciences,  along  with  business  courses. 
Furthermore  there  is  much  to  be  done  by  educators  in 
arranging  such  parallel  sequences  of  subjects  so  that  ad- 
vantage may  be  taken  of  vocational  interest  to  stimulate 
broad  and  deep  study  of  related  fundamentals.  Consider- 
able improvement  could  be  made  over  Type  III,  but  that 
type  seems  better  than  the  one  we  have  styled  "  horizontal." 

In  all  these  courses  of  study  we  quite  properly  find  both 
the  philosophical  and  analytical  courses,  those  which  are 
historical  and  descriptive  and  those  of  detailed  practical 
technique;  we  find  economic  theory,  industrial  history,  busi- 


Business  Education  567 

ness  management,  and  practical  accounting;  we  find  theory 
of  money  and  banking,  history  of  banking  in  the  United 
States,  and  practical  banking;  we  find  theory  of  interna- 
tional exchange,  tariff  history,  and  the  technique  of  customs 
administration.  Concerning  methods  of  teaching  particular 
subjects  we  shall  speak  later. 

Seldom  do  we  find  curricula  drawn  up  with  the  purely 
civic  end  in  view,  though  many  schools  and  associations 
throughout  the  country  are  agitating  the  question  of  organ- 
ized training  of  men  for  public  service.  Strictly  speaking, 
this  kind  of  training  is  both  professional  and  civic  because 
it  is  designed  to  make  men  proficient  in  carrying  on  the 
business  of  the  State.  In  New  York  City  the  municipal 
college  conducts  courses  of  this  sort  for  persons  in  the 
city  service,  while  private  bureaus  of  municipal  research 
conduct  their  own  courses.  So  far  in  America  no  courses 
are  yet  accepted  officially  for  entrance  into  public  service 
or  as  the  only  qualification  for  advancement  in  the  service. 
Nevertheless,  progress  is  being  made  in  this  direction.  The 
curricula  pffered  include  courses  in  Government  and  es- 
pecially Municipal  Government,  Public  Finance  and  Taxa- 
tion, the  practical  organization  and  administration  of 
various  departments  such  as  Police,  Charities,  Public 
Works,  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  special  sys- 
tems of  municipal  accounts. 

But  the  great  civic  benefit  comes  from  general  courses  in 
business,  for  the  business  man  who  has  a  real  grasp  of  his 
work  and  sees  it  in  the  light  of  general  social  welfare  be- 
comes a  good  citizen.  Business  education  gives  some  sense 
of  the  interdependence  of  industry,  personal  ethics,  and 
government.  The  broadly  trained  business  man  realizes 
that  he  is  in  a  sense  a  servant  of  the  community,  that  his 
property  is  wrapped  up  with  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  men, 
and  that  what  he  has  is  a  trust  which  society  grants  to  him 
to  be  conducted  after  the  manner  of  a  good  steward.  Such 
training  reveals  to  him  the  raison  d'etre  of  labor  legisla- 
tion, factory  laws,  the  various  qualifications  of  the  prop- 
erty right,  the  necessity  for  taxation,  and  the  importance 


568  College  Teaching 

of  good  government  to  all  the  citizens  of  the  State  both  as 
cooperative  agents  in  production  and  as  consumers.  Con- 
tinued and  improved  business  education  will  elevate  the 
mind  of  the  merchant  and  the  manager  so  that  its  horizon 
is  no  longer  the  profit  balance  but  the  welfare  of  all  society. 
The  cultural  aim  of  business  courses  is  consciously  kept 
in  mind  by  the  makers  of  curricula  for  colleges  of  liberal 
arts  and  sciences  which  permit  a  rather  free  choice  of 
electives  in  the  department  of  Economics  and  Business  or 
of  Political  Science,  according  to  the  departmental  organiza- 
tion of  the  institution.  Here,  of  course,  we  find  Economics, 
which  bears  to  practical  business  much  the  relation  which 
Philosophy  bears  to  active  life  in  general.  We  find  also 
courses  in  Money  and  Banking,  usually  offered  from  the 
historical  and  descriptive  rather  than  the  technical  point 
of  view.  Recently,  however,  colleges  have  included  in  this 
field  of  election  practical  courses  in  Accountancy  and  Com- 
mercial Law.  The  tendency  is  in  the  direction  of  including 
more  and  more  of  the  practical  and  technical  courses,  al- 
though the  historical  and  philosophical  courses  are  retained. 
Nevertheless  the  cultural  value  is  undiminished,  unless  one 
were  to  maintain  that  nothing  which  is  exact  can  be  cultural. 
Methods  of  The  field  of  business  is  so  wide  and  embraces  so  many 
teaching  subjects  that  the  methods  of  teaching  giving  the  best  results 
will  be  varied  and  used  in  different  combinations  with  dif- 
ferent subjects.  Those  subjects  which  are  practical  and 
largely  habit  forming,  such  as  stenography,  typewriting, 
bookkeeping,  and  the  manipulation  of  mechanical  and  labor- 
saving  office  devices,  are  of  course  taught  by  some  method 
of  training  which  will  insure  quick  reaction.  In  these 
courses  the  object  is  to  cultivate  habits  of  manual  dexterity 
and  habits  of  orderliness  and  neatness.  Here  we  find  that 
exposition  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  lectures  are  few,  recita- 
tions do  not  exist  to  any  great  extent,  but  that  practice, 
1st,  to  secure  proper  form,  and 
2d,  to  secure  speed, 
is  the  controlling  aim  of  the  method.  The  teachers  show 
their  ingenuity   in  devising  exercises  which   will  give  ac- 


Business  Education  569 

curacy  of  form  and  then  develop  speed  without  sacrifice  of 
accuracy. 

In  colleges  these  courses  are  reduced  to  a  minimum  be- 
cause they  are  usually  cared  for  in  lower  schools,  but  for 
students  who  come  directly  to  the  commercial  college  with- 
out them,  preparatory  courses  of  this  sort  are  often  con- 
ducted. 

Among  the  technical  subjects  the  one  which  calls  for  the 
most  practice  is,  of  course,  Accountancy,  first  for  the  single 
proprietor,  next  for  the  partnership,  and  finally  for  the 
corporation.  Various  methods  of  presenting  Accountancy 
have  been  suggested.  Very  few  teachers  employ  extensive 
recitation  work  in  this  field.  It  is  found  most  desirable 
to  have  periods  of  at  least  two  hours'  duration,  so  that  the 
teacher  can  give  such  exposition  and  lecture  work  at  the 
beginning  of  the  period  as  he  may  see  fit,  and  the  class 
may  then  take  up  practice.  In  some  schools  it  is  customary 
to  have  one  course  in  theory,  another  course  in  practical 
accounting,  and  another  course  in  problems  of  accounting. 
However,  the  tendency  seems  to  be  in  the  direction  of 
making  these  three  aspects  of  the  work  mutually  helpful, 
and  the  course  is  offered  as  a  course  in  Accounting,  Theory, 
Practice,  and  Problems.  The  theory  is  set  forth  in  a . 
lecture,  practice  is  given  with  typical  situations  in  mind, 
and  then  related  problems  are  taken  up  for  solution.  Many 
excellent  texts  are  now  appearing  and  can  be  used  in  the 
customary  manner.  Assignments  in  these  books  tend  to 
make  unnecessary  many  long  or  formal  lectures,  but  there 
still  remains  the  need  for  classroom  talks  and  quizzes.  As 
the  course  progresses,  the  problems  become  more  and  more 
difficult  and  complicated,  and  the  final  problem  work  is 
exceedingly  difficult  and  calls  for  a  considerable  power 
of  analysis,  clarity  of  statement,  and  care  in  arrangement 
on  the  part  of  the  student. 

A  complete  course  of  this  sort  usually  covers  two  and> 
a  half  or  three  years.     At  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  gen- 
eral accountancy,  special  subjects  may  be  pursued  parallel 
with  the  general  course.     The  order  in  which  these  special- 


570  College  Teaching 

ties  are  introduced  is  usually  Cost  Accounting,  Auditing 
Systems,  Judicial  or  Fiduciary  Accounting,  and  then  other 
special  branches  such  as  Brokers'  Accounts,  Public  Utilities 
Accounting,  Foreign  Exchange  Accounting,  etc. 

General  Accounting  is  very  important  both  as  an  instru- 
ment for  the  business  man  to  use  and  as  a  training  to  insure 
the  grasp  of  general  business  organization.  It  is  the  opin- 
ion of  the  writer  that  whether  a  business  man  expects  to 
become  an  accountant  or  not,  he  should  have  a  thorough  and 
technical  grasp  of  this  subject.  In  these  specialties  it  is 
necessary  to  depend  upon  lectures  rather  than  textbooks, 
not  only  because  textbooks  here  are  few  and  other  works 
are  not  well  adapted  to  teaching  use,  but  also  because  the 
subject  matter  must  be  kept  up  to  date  and  in  keeping  with 
changing  practice.  The  lecturers  should  be  practical  ex- 
perts in  each  particular  field  as  well  as  acceptable  teachers. 

Closely  related  to  Accountancy  is  Commercial  Law. 
Commercial  Law  should,  of  course,  be  understood  by  every 
business  man,  not  because  he  expects  to  become  a  practi- 
tioner of  law  but  because  he  wishes  to  avoid  unnecessary 
disputes  and  to  shape  his  course  wisely  from  a  legal  stand- 
point in  dealing  with  his  employees,  his  business  associates, 
and  his  customers. 

There  are  various  methods  of  teaching  Commercial  Law. 
The  one  which  has  been  in  vogue  thus  far  has  been  the 
textbook  method,  in  which  the  principles  of  law  of  interest 
to  the  business  man  are  set  forth.  Lessons  are  assigned  in 
the  book,  and  recitations  are  held.  The  lecture  method 
also  is  advocated.  In  some  universities  which  have  both 
law  schools  and  schools  of  commerce,  the  commercial 
students  receive  lectures  in  the  school  of  law  in  such  sub- 
jects as  contracts,  agencies,  insurance,  etc.  It  seems  to  the 
writer  that  neither  of  these  practices  is  desirable  but  that 
the  proper  way  to  teach  Commercial  Law  to  the  commercial 
students  is  the  case  method,  in  which  the  principles  of  law 
of  interest  to  the  business  man  are  developed  from  an  ex- 
amination of  actual  cases  of  business  litigation.     We  may 


Business  Education  571 

very  likely  look  forward  to  the  publication  of  case  books 
which  can  be  used  either  alone  or  in  conjunction  with  text- 
books on  legal  principles.  Lectures  on  law  to  commercial 
students  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  then  they 
should  confine  themselves  to  very  broad  principles  which 
need  no  lengthy  exposition  or  to  fields  in  which  the  students 
may  be  expected  to  have  a  general  grasp  but.  no  very  de- 
tailed knowledge.  But  such'  subjects  as  contracts,  agency, 
bankruptcy,  sales,  insurance,  negotiable  instruments,  and 
forms  of  business  association  should  be  taught  thoroughly 
to  the  student  in  the  classroom  through  the  case  method,  in 
which  each  case  is  fully  discussed  by  the  class  and  from 
which  discussion  legal  principles  are  evolved.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  states  which  stand  highest  in  the 
matter  of  Certified  Public  Accountancy  licenses  are  requir- 
ing very  thorough  preparation  in  law.  To  meet  such  re- 
quirements a  course  in  law  covering  at  least  three  semesters, 
three  hours  a  week,  with  a  case  method  is  certainly  neces- 
sary. 

The  modem  languages  taught  in  schools  of  commerce 
should  be  by  the  direct  method,  and  always  with  the  voca- 
tional end  clearly  before  the  student.  Actual  business  tran- 
sactions, such  as  selling  to  a  foreign  customer  in  the  foreign 
language,  correspondence,  newspapers,  catalogues  and  other 
documents  of  business,  should  be  the  supplementary  reading 
and  exercise  material  of  the  class.  Facility  in  conversation 
and  writing  should  be  developed  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and 
the  grasp  of  the  methodical  rules  should  follow.  It  would 
probably  be  presumptuous  to  take  a  strong  position  here  on 
the  question  of  teaching  modern  languages,  but  experience 
with  commercial  students  has  clearly  indicated  that  greatest 
progress  can  be  made  if  the  language  is  taught  by  a  con- 
versation or  direct  method  from  the  very  start,  and  if 
paradigms  and  rules  of  syntax  are  evolved  after  some  vocab- 
ulary has  been  developed  and  some  facility  in  speech  has 
been  acquired.  We  may  say  here,  incidentally,  that  it  seems 
wise  to  teach  the  spoken  language  for  a  while  before  taking 


572 


College  Teaching 


Belatlons 
withtbe 
business 
world 


up  the  problem  of  the  written  language,  especially  where 
the  foreign  language  assigns  different  phonetic  values  to 
the  printed  symbols  from  those  assigned  in  English. 

While  the  various  technical  subjects  offer  different  prob- 
lems because  of  differences  in  their  character,  we  may  say 
in  general  that  the  aim  of  the  school  should  always  be  to 
keep  in  touch  with  the  actual  practice  in  the  business  world; 
to  have  the  lecturer  use  material  which  is  up  to  the  minute, 
and,  where  possible,  to  give  the  students  the  advantage  of 
field  work  or  at  least  to  take  them  on  tours  of  inspection 
in  the  different  houses  engaged  in  this  or  that  line  of  busi- 
ness. 

The  curriculum  of  any  good  commercial  college  or 
university  department  of  business  includes  courses  in  Eco- 
nomics, Commercial  Geography,  Industrial  History,  Busi- 
ness Management,  and  similar  subjects.  No  doubt  other 
chapters  of  this  book  discuss  methods  of  teaching  these 
subjects.  But  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  indicate 
that  the  best  approach  to  the  study  of  Economics  is  through 
practical  business  courses  in  Accountancy,  Commercial 
Law,  and  Practical  Management.  Economics  is  the  Philos- 
ophy of  Business,  and  it  cannot  be  understood  by  one  who 
is  unfamiliar  with  the  facts  of  business.  Certainly  it  can- 
not be  related  to  real  business  life  by  the  academic  student. 
It  would  seem,  therefore,  best  to  reserve  the  course  in 
Economic  Theory  for  the  senior  year  of  a  business  course 
and  precede  it  with  courses  in  Accounting,  Law,  Indus- 
trial History,  and  Management.  Then,  when  it  is  taught, 
it  should  be  presented  through  practical  problems  from 
which  the  general  principles  may,  by  induction,  be 
derived. 

It  is  important  that  commercial  education  should  not 
grow  academic  and  remote  from  the  real  world  of  affairs. 
Therefore  schools  of  business  should  keep  in  close  contact 
with  merchants'  associations,  chambers  of  commerce,  and 
such  other  bodies  of  business  men  as  may  be  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  school.  Committees  from  such  associations 
should  have  either  a  voice  in  the  conduct  of  the  school,  or 


Business  Education 


573 


at  least  have  very  strong  advisory  representation  on  com- 
mittees. In  France,  Germany,  and  in  fact  most  European 
countries,  colleges  of  commerce  were  directly  established  by 
chambers  of  commerce  and  associations  of  merchants,  and 
the  work  is  to  a  large  extent  conducted  under  their  direc- 
tion. Whether  the  college  of  commerce  in  America  be  a 
private  institution  or  one  supported  by  the  public,  it  should 
form  some  sympathetic  contact  with  the  leading  business 
organizations.  Of  course  certain  business  associations 
have  their  own  technical  schools  of  training.  The  Ameri- 
can Bankers'  Association  conducts  its  own  courses,  drawing 
upon  various  universities  for  lecturers  in  some  subjects  and 
drawing  upon  experts  in  business  for  other  kinds  of  techni- 
cal work.  So  also  various  corporations  have  their  corpora- 
tion schools  which  seek  to  develop  business  executives  by 
proajessive  courses  of  training  for  those  in  the  lower  ranks. 

Nevertheless,  the  collegiate  institutions  offering  organized 
courses  in  commerce  will  do  well  to  keep  in  touch  with 
business  men.  Another  way  in  which  such  schools  and 
colleges  can  keep  abreast  of  the  times  is  to  employ  lecturers 
who  do  not  make  teaching  their  main  business  of  life  but 
who  are  expert  in  certain  particular  fields.  Indeed,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  teach  certain  of  the  very  advanced  and 
specialized  courses  without  employing  men  of  this  sort. 
They  are  attracted  to  teaching  not  by  the  pay  but  by  the 
honor  of  being  connected  with  an  institution  of  learning, 
and  by  sincere  desire  to  contribute  something  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  work  in  which  they  are  interested.  These 
men,  of  course,  can  be  scheduled  only  for  a  relatively  few 
hours  a  week,  and  sometimes  they  can  be  had  only  for 
evening  lectures,  but  in  any  event  they  are  very  much  worth 
while.  Obviously  the  director  of  studies  in  the  college 
should  give  these  men  all  possible  assistance  of  a  peda- 
gogical sort,  so  that  their  advantages  as  experts  in  business 
will  not  be  offset  by  deficiencies  as  teachers. 

This  brings  us  to  another  consideration  which  is  very    Evening 

T  1  •  1  1        •  1      1  .    .  work  in 

important.     It  seems  to  the  writer  that  the  ideal  training    commerci»i 
for  a  student  who  has  reached  the  stage  of  entrance  to    *^°°"'' 


574  College  Teaching 

college  and  who  wishes  to  go  into  business  is  as  follows: 
He  should  enroll  in  the  college  course  which  is  prepara- 
tory for  business  training  and  pursue  his  modern  languages, 
Mathematics,  English,  and  the  Social  Sciences,  and  also 
take  up  such  accounting  and  technical  work  as  he  can  have 
the  first  two  years  of  his  course.  Then  he  should  enter 
the  world  of  business  itself,  be  in  a  business  house  during 
the  day,  and  continue  his  studies  at  night.  It  seems  very 
desirable  that  this  parallel  progress,  in  organized  theory  and 
instruction,  on  the  one  hand,  and  in  actual  business  with 
its  difficulties  which  arise  almost  haphazard,  should  be  car- 
ried on.  The  relationship  is  very  helpful.  Of  course  a 
substitute  for  this  is  the  cooperative  plan,  in  which  the 
student  spends  a  part  of  his  time  in  college  and  a  part  of 
the  time  in  a  business  house.  Another  alternative  in  in- 
stitutions which  have  the  three-term  year  is  to  put  two 
terms  in  at  college  and  one  term  in  at  business.  The  cal- 
endar arrangement  of  any  institution  will  suggest  variations 
of  this  suggested  arrangement,  the  purpose  of  which  will  be 
to  insure  progressive  development  in  business  practice  and 
also  in  collegiate  instruction. 
Bacentde-^  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  in  the  last  few  years  business 
has  become  more  and  more  intense.  The  developments  are 
in  two  directions.  The  first  direction  is  saving  and  effi- 
ciency through  organization.  This  tends  to  keep  down 
cost.  The  other  direction  is  in  the  stimulation  of  the  market 
and  in  perfecting  advertising  and  selling  methods.  Nat- 
urally there  have  been  developments  in  the  recording,  ac- 
counting, and  clerical  ends  of  the  business,  but  scientific 
management  in  production  on  the  one  hand,  and  scientific 
selling  on  the  other,  are  the  two  great  developments.  In 
both,  engineering  plays  a  prominent  part  and  dictates  a 
close  correlation  of  the  business  and  the  engineering  cur- 
ricula of  a  college  or  university  seeking  to  give  most  ef- 
fective training  either  to  the  student  of  business  or  the 
student  of  engineering.  On  the  selling  side  we  are  having 
the  further  developments  which  come  with  the  growth  of 
foreign  trade. 


yelopments 


liuifineHs  Education  575 

In  order  to  meet  the  demand  for  men  competent  to  organ- 
ize production  wisely  and  from  a  business  viewpoint,  more 
courses  will  be  given  in  what  we  may  call  production  man- 
agement or  commercial  engineering.  Furthermore,  the 
sales  engineer  must  be  trained.  The  curriculum  of  the 
course  of  collegiate  grade  should  be  made  up  somewhat  as 
follows: 

A  two  years'  prescribed  course  in  the  general  sciences  and 
in  general  principles  of  business,  followed  by  a  two  or 
three  year  curriculum  in  technical  business  management,  on 
the  one  hand,  including  especially  accounting,  cost  account- 
ing, wage  systems,  employment  management,  and  some 
branch  of  engineering  on  the  other  hand.  The  engineering 
course  should  be  general  but  thorough.  It  should  not  go 
up  into  specialized  fields  of  design,  but  it  should  include 
all  the  fundamental  courses  of  engineering  —  of  mechanical, 
electrical,  and  civil  engineering.  A  combination  course  in 
engineering  and  business  management  is  needed  also  to  pre- 
pare men  for  places  in  banks  as  investment  managers. 
The  banks  must  advance  funds  to  industrial  concerns,  and 
such  loans  cannot  be  made  wisely  save  upon  the  advice  of 
one  who  is  thoroughly  acquainted  with  plant  management, 
equipment,  and  mechanical  operations  as  well  as  costs  of 
production  and  market  possibilities.  In  addition,  such  a 
man  must  be  well  acquainted  with  systems  of  accounting 
and  methods  of  preparing  financial  statements.  In  the  field 
of  salesmanship,  engineering  training  is  growing  in  im- 
portance. In  short,  the  highly  organized  state  of  modem 
production  and  the  tremendous  part  played  by  engineering 
in  modern  industry  indicate  the  need  for  a  close  coordina- 
tion of  business  and  engineering  education. 

In  conclusion  we  may  say  that  business  education  is  now 
at  the  stage  where  it  has  its  own  technology,  is  in  close 
touch  with  other  fields  of  technology,  and  is  making  its 
contribution  to  the  general  fund  of  modern  culture.  Texts 
and  scientific  treatises  in  the  field  of  business  are  increas- 
ing, the  pedacogy  of  the  various  included  subiects  is  re- 
ceiving satisfactory  attention,  and  schools  of  collegiate  and 


576  College  Teaching 

university  grade  are  keeping  abreast  of  the  demands  of 
the  business  world  for  adequate  general  and  specific  train- 
ing in  business. 

Frederick  B.  Robinson 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York 


Bibliography 

CooLEY,  E.  G.  Vocational  Education  in  Europe.  Commercial  Club 
of  Chicago,  Chicago,  Illinois,  1912.  Chapters  on  Vocational  Edu- 
cation in  General,  Commercial  Schools,  and  the  Conclusion. 

Farrington,  F.  E.  Commercial  Education  in  Germany.  The  Mac- 
millan  Company,  1914. 

Herrick,  C.  a.  Meaning  and  Practice  of  Commercial  Education^ 
and  other  works  in  the  Macmillan  Commercial  Series,  1904.  There 
is  an  excellent  bibliography  on  the  whole  subject  of  commercial 
education  as  an  appendix  to  Herrick's  Commercial  Education. 

Hooper,  Frederick,  and  Graham,  James.  Commercial  Education 
at  Home  and  Abroad.    The  Macmillan  Company,  1901. 

There  are  numerous  contributions  on  particular  aspects  and  general 
methods  and  special  methods  in  commercial  subjects.  The  best 
printed  bibliography  of  these  is  in  the  back  of  Herrick's  book. 
A  typical  work  on  methods  is  Klein  and  Kahn's  Methods  in  Com- 
mercial Education. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Accountancy.  See  Business  Edu- 
cation 

Adapting  course  of  study,  95-97, 
202,  244,  480,  572 

Adler,  Felix,  323,  325 

i^sthetic  aim,  in  teaching,  52, 
92;  in  music,  470 

Aims,  in  teaching,  48-54;  modi- 
fied for  different  students,  54; 
in  organization  of  knowledge, 
65;  in  teaching  biology,  88- 
94;  in  teaching  mathematics, 
172;  in  physical  education, 
184-190;  in  teaching  econom- 
ics, 217-220;  in  teaching  Amer- 
ican history,  218;  in  teaching 
political  science,  282-287;  in 
teaching  philosophy,  304;  in 
teaching  ethics,  320-328;  in 
teaching  psychology,  337;  in 
teaching  English  literature, 
380-384,  422^23;  in  teaching 
classics,  405;  in  teaching  Ro- 
mance languages,  426-427;  in 
teaching  music,  460-462,  467; 
of  art  instruction,  478;  in 
teaching  engineering  subjects, 
508-511;  in  teaching  mechan- 
ical drawing,  525-527;  in 
business  education,  559.  See 
Civic,   Disciplinary,   Utilitarian 

Allen,  J.  T.,  411 

Angell,  J.  B.,  30 

Application  of  knowledge,  72 

Art,  475-497 

Art  instruction,  475 

Athletics.  See  Physical  educa- 
tion 

Author's  life,  in  literary  study, 
385 

Biological  basis  of  education,  85- 

87,  94,  364 
Biology.  85-109 


579 


Brown,  E.  E.,  358 
Brown  University,  5 
Business  education,  555-577 
Butler,  N.  M.,  30,  404 

Calkins,  Mary  W.,  339 

Canby,  H.  S.,  42 

Case  method,  in  political  science, 
292;  in  philosophy,  316;  in 
ethics,  329;  in  psychology, 
338-340;  in  commercial  law, 
572-573 

Cattell,  J.  M.,  30 

Chemistry,  108-125 

Chronological  viewpoint  in  his- 
tory, 257 

Citizenship,  training  for,  282 

Civic  aim  in  economics,  219 

Classics,  404-423;  in  Colonial 
colleges,  5-6;  status  in  college 
teaching,  404;  through  the 
vernacular,  418;  through  an- 
cient authors,  421 

Coeducation,  18-21 

College  teaching,  why  ineffective, 
46-^ 

Collegiate  Institute,  4 

Colonial   period,  3 

Columbia  University,  5,  8 

Commercial  education.  See  Busi- 
ness education 

Commercial  law,  571-572 

Committee  on  standards  of  Amer- 
ican universities,  42 

Comparisons  in  teaching,  70 

Composition  and  journalism,  546 

Composition  teaching,  status  of, 
390.     See  English 

Correlation,  70,  151,  156-157, 
297,  295-297.  314 

Course  of  study.  477.  481-485, 
486-490;  in  biology.  95-98; 
logical  and  psychological,  103; 
in  chemistry,  111;   in  physics. 


580 


Index 


134^137,  138-139;  in  geology, 
153-156,  158;  in  hygiene  and 
physical  training,  206;  in  eco- 
nomics, 225;  in  sociology,  244- 
246;  determined  by  commu- 
nity, 246;  in  American  history, 
259-262;  in  European  history, 
269-276;  in  political  science, 
280-281;  in  philosophy,  312- 
314;  in  education,  353;  in 
English  literature,  386;  in 
classics,  410;  in  Romance  lan- 
guages, 431-436;  in  German, 
442-453;  in  engineering.  502- 
504;  in  mechanical  drawing, 
526-530;  in  business  educa- 
tion, 559-567 
Cultural  aim,  220,  336,  348,  382- 
384 

Dartmouth  College  Case  and 
college  development,  8-9 

Democracy,  259 

Descriptive  geometry,  530 

Design  in  engineering,  517 

Development  method,  73,  75-76. 
See  Recitation 

Dewey,  J.,  362-364 

Dexter,  E.  G.,  30,  355 

Differentiated  courses,  504-508 

Direct  method,  444 

Disciplinary  aim,  51-52;  in 
physics,  126-127;  in  geology, 
143-150;  in  history,  264;  in 
psychology,  336;  in  education, 
349;  in  literature,  382-384;  in 
Romance  languages,  424;  in 
music,  467-468 

Draper,  A.  S.,  30 

Duggan,  S.  P.,  353 

Economic    viewpoint    in    history, 

257 
Economics,  58,  217-240 
Education     as     college     subject, 

347-376 


Educational  and  instructional 
aim,  50-51 

Elective  system,  11-14 

Elementary  language  courses  as 
college  courses,  426 

Eliot,  Charles  W.,  11 

Emotional  reaction  in  literature, 
384 

Engineering  subjects,  501-524 

English,  teaching  of,  49,  379- 
388,  389-403.  See  Composi- 
tion, Literature 

Equipment  for  art  instruction, 
490 

Ethics,  320-333 

Evening  session  for  business  edu- 
cation, 573 

Examination,  80.    See  Tests 

Experimental  work  in  psychol- 
ogy, 342.  See  Laboratory 
method 

Expressional  limitations  of  col- 
lege students,  545 

Field  work,  254,  298,  517 

Finance,  teaching  of.  See  Busi- 
ness education 

Flexner,  A.,  30,  42 

Foster.  W.  T.,  30 

Functional  aspect  in  teaching, 
292 

Geology,  142-160 
German,  440-453 
German    influence   on    American 

college,  14 
Gradation  of  subject  matter,  56, 

387 
Graduate  schools,  14-15 
Graves,  353 

Habits,  91,  199.    See  Aims,  Dis- 
ciplinary aim 
Handschin,  C.  H.,  42 
Harper,  W.  R.,  30 
Hart,  355 
Harvard,  3 


Itidex 


581 


Health  instruction,  197.  See 
Physical  education 

Heuristic  method.  See  Develop- 
ment method,  Recitation 

High  school  preparation,  in  phys- 
ical education,  190;  in  music, 
469,485 

History,  of  American  college,  3; 
of  college  mathematics,  167; 
of  sociology,  241 ;  of  music  as 
college  subject,  357;  of  teach- 
ing of  journalism,  533-539;  of 
business  education  in  the  col- 
lege, 555-557 

Holliday,  C,  42 

Home,  H.  H.,  36,  42 

Illustrations,  243 
Immigration  and  status  of  Eng- 
lish teaching,  394 
Informal  aim  in  teaching,  51 
Informal  examination,  308 
Introductory    course,     in    ethics, 
328;    in   political  science,  288, 
298;    in   philosophy,  307.  315; 
in  psychology,  334;  in  mechan- 
ical drawing,  527-528 

Jefferson  and  founding  of  Ameri- 
can college,  7 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  32 

Journalism  as  college  subject, 
24,  533-554 

Junior  college,  26-27 

King's  College,  5 
Kingsley,  C.  D.,  30 

Laboratory  method,  73,  78;  in 
chemistry,  62,  114;  in  biology, 
99;  in  physics,  132;  in  geology, 
157;  in  psychology,  343;  in  en- 
gineering, 516 

Language  as  index  of  mentality, 
388 


Law,  17;  commercial,  571-572 

Lecture  method,  73;  in  chemis- 
try, 113-114;  in  physics,  131, 
133;  in  mathematics,  175;  in 
economics,  227,  231-235;  in 
sociology,  242;  in  history,  260, 
265;  in  philosophy,  308-310; 
in  psychology,  340-341 ;  in 
classics,  419-421;  in  engineer- 
ing, 511-513;  in  commercial 
education,  568-572 

Length  of  periods  in  account- 
ancy, 569 

Literary  analysis,  386 

Literary  appreciation,  380.  See 
Aims,  Cultural,  ^Esthetic 

Literary  style,  386 

Literature  and  the  classics,  407- 
408,  415.     See  English 

Logical  association,  63-64 

MacLean,  G.  E.,  30 

Mathematics,  59,  161-182 

Mechanical  drawing,  525-532 

Medicine,  17 

Mental  development  and  acquisi- 
tion of  language,  388 

Methods  of  teaching  conditioned 
by  aims,  98.     See  Aims 

Mezes,  S.  E.,  48 

Modem  languages,  when  intro- 
duced, 7;  in  business  educa- 
tion, 571 

Modern  literature  and  the  clas- 
sics, 412 

Monroe,  P.,  353 

Morrill  Act,  10 

Motivation  in  teaching,  55-56 

Municipal  research,  298.  See 
Laboratory  method,  Sociology, 
Political  science 

Music  in  secondary  schools,  465 

Natural  method  in  classics,  411, 

416-417 
Newspaper  English,  541-542 


582 


Index 


Non-sectarianism     in     American 

colleges,  7 
Notebook  of  students,  356 

Oberlin  and  coeducation,  20 
Oral  composition  in  German,  447 
Oral   reading   and    English   liter- 
ature, 384 
Ordinance  of  1787,  9 
Organization    of    subject    matter, 

62-66 
Outlines  in  biology,  102 

Parker,  S.  C,  355 

Pennsylvania   University,  4 

Philosophy,  57,  70-71,  123,  127, 
302-319 

Physical  education,  22,  183-314 

Physics,  126-141 

Pitkin,  W.  B.,  46-50 

Place  in  curriculum,  of  political 
science,  287;  of  ethics,  328; 
of  psychology,  334,  344;  of  his- 
tory of  education,  351 ;  of  edu- 
cational theory,  359;  of  Ger- 
man, 440 ;  of  art  education,  475 

Point  of  contact  in  teaching,  57- 
62 

Political  science,  279-301 

Preparatory  training,  in  chemis- 
try, 109;  in  physics.  129;  in 
mathematics,  164,  176-178;  in 
physical  education,  190;  in 
German,  448;  for  journalism, 
549 

Problem  method,  in  economics, 
228,  231-235;  in  sociology, 
248-251 

Professional  preparation,  for 
women,  20;  through  political 
science,  283 

Prose  composition  and  the  clas- 
sics, 414 

Psychology,  57,  334-346,  364 

Public  service,  training  for,  284 

Quiz,  how  to  conduct,  118 


Recitation,  118,  174,  513-516, 
568-572 

Reduction  of  college  course,  27 

Reference  reading,  73,  76,  267, 
514 

Relating  course  to  students,  128, 
370;  in  chemistry,  120;  in  so- 
ciology, 245;  in  philosophy, 
309;  in  ethics,  321-327,  331- 
332;  in  psychology,  338;  in 
music,  459;  in  business  educa- 
tion, 572.  See  Adapting  course 
of  study 

Relative  importance  in  organiza- 
tion of  knowledge,  64 

Religious  character  of  American 
college,  5-7,  22 

Reporting,  teaching  art  of,  547 

Research,  285.  See  Reference 
reading.  Problem  method. 
Seminar 

Research  scholars  as  teachers, 
105-106,  124,  137,  178 

Robinson,  M.  L.,  42 

Romance  languages,  424—428 

Scholarship    as    preparation    for 

teaching,  38 
Science,     teaching     of,     61-64; 

place  of.  in  journalism  course, 

552 
Scientific    methods,    in    political 

science,    298;    in    psychology, 

343 
Scope   of   course   in   educational 

theory,  361 
Self-activity,  72 
Self-government,  24 
Seminar,  76 
Senior  college,  26-28 
Sequence  of  courses  in  political 

science,  289 
Skill  to  be  developed  in  biology, 

90 
Smith,  F.  W.,  55 
Snow,  L.  F.,  30 
Social  museum,  the,  254 


Index 


583 


Social  sciences,  place  in  journal- 
ism course,  550 

Sociology,  241-255 

Socratic  method.  See  Recita- 
tion, Development  method 

Stanley,  A.  A.,  465 

Student  Army  Training  Corps, 
335 

Summaries  in  teaching,  66 

Teacher,  as  scholar,  105.  See 
Research,  Teacher  training 

Teacher  training,  18,  31,  37-39, 
256-257,  436,  468-470 

Technical  subjects  in  college  cur- 
riculum, 16,  25-26,  479,  504- 
508 

Technique,  as  aim  in  teaching, 
52 

Testing  results  of  instruction, 
136;  in  economics,  244;  in 
history,  261,  268;  in  psychol- 
ogy, 343;  in  music,  473;  in 
art,  493-496;  in  engineering 
subjects,  519-522 

Textbook,  in  geology,  158;  in 
mathematics,  179;  in  econom- 
ics, 228,  231-235;  in  sociology, 
253;  in  history,  259;  in  ethics, 
330 

Theology,  in  separate  school,  16 


Thoroughness,  66-72,  104 

Thwing,  C.  F.,  30 

Time  to  be  given  to  subjects, 
345,  486.  See  Place  in  cur- 
riculum 

Topical  method  in  history,  266 

Types  of  instruction,  396-398 

Undergraduate  and  graduate 
teaching,  388 

Unified  courses,  59,  302 

Utilitarian  aim,  217;  of  physics, 
126;  of  geology,  142;  of  politi- 
cal science,  286;  of  psychology, 
337;  of  history  of  education, 
348 

Values,  355.    See  Aims 
Vernacular,  in  teaching  German, 

445 
Viewpoint  in  teaching,  a  new,  69 
Virginia,  University  of,  7 

West,  A.  F.,  30 

William  and  Mary,  4 

Wolfe,  A.  B.,  36,  42 

Women,  education  of,  18-21. 
See  G)education 

World  War,  effect  on  curricu- 
lum, 183 

Yale,  4 


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I  A   review  o-f  the  factors  and  problems  connected  with  the 

I  learning  and  teaching  of  modem  languages  vAth  an  analysis 

I  of  the  various  methods  luhich  may  be  adopted  in  order  to 

I  obtain  satisfactory  results. 

I         THE  SCIENTIFIC 
I  STUDY  AND  TEACHING 
I         OF  LANGUAGES 

i  By  Harold  D.  Palmer 

I       *     Phonetics  Department,  University  College,  London 

I  **'  I  ^  HE  aim  of  the  book,"  the  author  says,  "is  to  add  to 

I  ■»•    the  general  store  of  ever  increasing  knowledge  of  the 

I  nature  of  language,  and  to  contribute  a  share  toward  ascer- 

1  taining  the   principles  which  will   help   to  emancipate  lan- 

I  guage-teaching    and    language-study    from    the    domain    of 

i  empiricism  and  will  place  it  once  for  all  on  a  true  scientific 

I  basis." 

I  This  book  undertakes  to  analyze  the  language-teaching  prob- 

B  lem,  to  discover  the  factors  that  enter  into  it,  and  from  the 

I  data  thus  acquired  to  formulate  principles  for  the  teaching 

I  and  learning  of  languages. 

i  The  constant  reference  to  actual  conditions  and  the  wealth 

I  of  illustrations  from  the  author's  long  experience  furnish  a 

I  store  of  practical  suggestions  for  classroom  work.     Nothing 

I''  could  be  more  practically  helpful  and  suggestive  than  the 
example  of  a  standard  course,  which  is  worked  out  in  de- 
tail for  three  years  of  French,  or  the  discussion  of  such  topics 

g  as  applications  of  the  laws  of  memory,  the  use  of  associa- 

I  tion  and  visualization,  how  to  guard  against  what  the  au- 

I  thor  classifies  as  "the  six  vicious  tendencies  of  all  students 

I  of  languages,"  when  translation  is  and  is  not  allowable. 

I  It  is  a  book  of  particular  importance  in  college  classes  in 

I  the   pedagogy   of   language   teaching,   and   is   helpful   to   all 

I  teachers  of  languages,  especially  to  teachers  of  French. 
Cloth.    Illustrated.    Charts.    328  pages.    Price  $3.00 

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A  COLLECTION  OF  THE  WORLD'S  BEST  LITERA-        \ 
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